Bitcoin edged higher in the past week, rallying from $421.98 to $433.57 dollars, a gain of 2.7 percent. However this didn’t translate into gains for for the wider altcoin market. Litecoin is trading little changed at $3.37 dollars per coin. Namecoin is little changed since last Thursday and Peercoin is down by 3.6 percent. But let’s start with BTC first.

Bitcoin Gains 2.7 Percent

Bitcoin rallied from the lows at $413.40 reached last week. From low to high, the gains have been over $24 dollars or just under 6 percent. From the noted price last Tuesday, BTC/USD is trading higher by 2.7 percent.

Despite the sharp pullbacks, the trend higher is still in place. For a definitive end to it, look for a clean break below the $410 dollars level. Below here more support can be found at the round $400 figure, followed by the weaker support levels at $392 and $374 dollars per coin.

While the trend is up, there has been no clear momentum, with sentiment swinging from bull to bear every few hours. On the upside, a breakout above the $450 dollars level could restart the upward momentum higher. The problem for the bulls is that close to here we have a cluster of resistance levels near $460/$470 dollars per coin. A decisive break above this resistance area could propel BTC towards the round $500 figure. This was the highest high reached last November on most bitcoin USD exchanges.

Litecoin Little Changed

Alternative cryptocurrency Litecoin is trading little changed since our last update. We are currently quoted at $3.37 dollars per coin, the same price noted in our article last Tuesday. Litecoin is in a similar boat as bitcoin. While the trend is still up, the momentum has been lacking, as we can see on the 4 Hour chart below.

To restart it, the bulls will have to break the round $3.50 level. Above here we have more resistance at the $3.65 dollars swing high, followed by $3.82 dollars per coin. Higher still we have the two round figures at $4.00 and $4.50 dollars. At $4.85 dollars we find another potential resistance, the highest point for LTC/USD during last year’s bitcoin rally. Note that this wasn’t Litecoin’s high for 2015. That number stands at $8.64 dollars per coin.

A decisive break below $3.25 dollars would end the uptrend and push us back into neutral territory. A clean breakdown below the round $3 dollars level could start a new LTC downtrend. Close to here we find a strong support area around $2.90 dollars per coin.

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