Bitcoin is testing the important swing resistance at $243/$244 dollars per coin. The high, initially hit on April 28th during a 1 hour spike, is proving to be of a more permanent character and remains unbroken after two failed attempts. While bitcoin was struggling to break above $244, Litecoin had the same issue with $1.50. But let’s start with big brother first.
Bitcoin Tests $244 Resistance
Bitcoin failed to breakout above $244 on April 30th and May 3rd. In both cases, prices barely broke the previous high by less then 20 cents before falling back. We are currently trading at $236 dollars per coin, substantially below the $244 mark.
While the downtrend is over, we are still not in an uptrend. For this, BTC/USD will need to rally above the $250 mark. Above here weak resistance stands at $258, followed by $270. The major figure on the upside is the $300 round level. This is also the high of a triple top formation. A break above $300 should intensify the gains.
On the lower end, some support can be found at $230, followed by the April 26th swing low at $210. In fact, as we’ve mentioned before, the whole area from $200 to $210 should be treated as one large support level. Thus we will need to see a break below the round $200 figure to restart the downtrend.
Litecoin Bounces at $1.50
Litecoin is in a similar boat as BTC, with the difference that instead of $250, the level to note is $1.50. On May 3rd prices got as high as $1.49 before pulling back. The next day we saw another push higher stop at $1.48. We are currently quoted at $1.4039.
If we look at the chart above, we can see that LTC/USD exhibited very similar price action to bitcoin during the past few weeks. Both cryptocurrencies formed a double bottom, BTC near $210, LTC near $1.30. Then they both rallied substantially, bitcoin by 15 percent and 14 percent for Litecoin, before retracing some of these gains.
For Litecoin, the downtrend is over. But to spark a new rally, LTC/USD will need to clear the $1.50 level. If it does, the resistance levels to watch on the upside are $1.60 followed by $1.70. A clearing of this resistance area may propel LTC higher towards the March 23rd swing high near $1.80. On the lower end, the double bottom near $1.30 per coin should offer some support. A clearing of this area may resume the downtrend and lead to more losses toward this year’s low at $1.05.
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