Bitcoin is trading higher today but we’re still far from declaring a new uptrend. Prices hit $420.95 early in the day before backing down somewhat. Litecoin isn’t having as good of day however. Prices are down slightly after bitcoin’s little brother erased the earlier gains.

Bitcoin Prices Hit $420.95

As noted above, BTC prices hit a high of $420.95 before easing to 417.51. We are currently quoted at $418.11, about 60 cents from the lows. On the chart below we can see that while BTC/USD had some gains in the past few days, we’ve yet to stage a brakeout.

A potential level for this to occur is the latest swing high at $426.24. A decisive breakout above here may turn into a new BTC rally. Note that we’ve looking for a decisive break, not a shallow and quick piercing of the level. For the more risk-averse, maybe try the $430 dollars level. Using this level instead should cut down on the false breakouts.

Above here notable resistance levels can be found at $440 (weak), $450 and $460 dollars per coin. A clearing of this resistance area could quickly propel us toward the $500 round figure. This was the BTC high hit on most exchanges last November. A breakout above it should accelerate the gains.

On the lower end weak support can be found at the $404.52 swing low. But just like with $426, a better level may be the round $400 dollars mark. A breakdown below this level could translate into a new downtrend. At $394 we have another weak support, followed by $374 and $350 dollars per coin. A clean move below $350 may extend the losses to the support area around $300-$310 dollars.

Litecoin Slightly Down Today

Alternative crypto-currency Litecoin is trading slightly down today. After opening at $3.20 we rallied to a high of $3.23 flat, only to fall back down to $3.20 after big brother bitcoin retraced.

On the upside, a breakout above the $3.31 dollars swing high may turn into a new rally. Above here we find resistance at another swing high, the $3.37 dollars mark. This is followed by a major resistance is at $3.50 dollars. Higher up we have this year’s high for LTC at $3.65 dollars. We conclude the levels to the upside with the December high at $3.82 dollars and the round $4 dollars level.

While there has been some juggling in the levels higher up, not much is changed on the lower end. The important level is still $3.12 dollars per coin.  A decisive break below here may start a new LTC downtrend.  Below $3.12 we have support at the round $3 level, followed by a strong area of support around $2.89/$2.90 dollars. A clearing of this area may lead to more losses for Litecoin.

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