Bitcoin broke above the important $380 handle on December 6th, triggering a new BTC rally. So far the gains have been relatively small, $11 dollars or just under 3 percent. It’s little brother Litecoin is still mired in a congestion area, with no end in sight.

Bitcoin Breaks $380 Dollars

Bitcoin broke the important $380 resistance on Sunday. This level was noted in our previous article as the starting point for a new rally. Since then prices have traded higher by $11 dollars or 2.9 percent. We are currently quoted at $391 dollars per coin.

As we can see on the chart above we are slowly inching towards the round $400 figure. Today we broke the December 6th high at $392.33 by 66 cents and set a new monthly high at $392.99. However here prices have stalled somewhat.

On other exchanges, bitcoin has been stuck in a range between $405 and $390 for two days now. The $405 swing high roughly corresponds to $400 at Fxopen. The momentum higher could resume if we get a decisive breakout above this level. Further up more resistance can be found at $450, followed by this year’s high on Fxopen at $459 dollars per coin. The yearly high reached on other exchanges was around $500 dollars per coin, so keep that level in mind as well as potential resistance.

On the lower end the first line of support stands at the $380 breakout point. A move below here should worry the bulls. But the rally will technically remain in place until the $345 swing low is broken.

Litecoin Still Range-bound

Alternative cryptocurrency Litecoin is still stuck in its range. During the past seven days LTC/USD traded between a high at $3.74 and a low at $3.26 dollars. As we can see on the chart below after an initial sell-off Litecoin bounced at the $3.26 support level. Resistance turns to support so it’s not a coincidence to see this former range high support prices on the way down. After the bounce we move higher to $3.51 dollars per coin.

The hurdle to a new LTC rally stands at $3.74 dollars. It seems likely that a continuation of the bitcoin rally above $400 will be needed for this to occur, given how weak Litecoin has been trading lately. Important resistance levels above $3.74 include $4.00 and $4.50 dollars, followed by the November high for Litecoin at $4.85.

On the lower end the figure to watch is the round $3 dollars level. A breakdown below here would start a new downtrend. Important support levels below include the $2.88 swing low, followed by $2.70 and $2.50 dollars per coin. The January swing high at $2.40 dollars is another potential support for LTC/USD.

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