Sally Ho's Technical Analysis 1 January 2020 BTC ETH

Bitcoin (BTC/USD) appreciated early in today’s Asian session as the pair gained ground to the 7218.42 area after trading as low as the 7111.00 level during yesterday’s North American session.   The pair is poised to open the new year trading above the psychologically-important 7000 level, a sharp contrast to the beginning of 2019 when the pair opened the year around the 3681.81 level.  Traders await to see if market sentiment has shifted after the end of 2019 when some derivatives positions are likely to have matured and rolled off.  Chartists note that the 50-bar MA (4-hourly) has just Bullishly crossed above the 200-bar MA (4-hourly), a technical development that may lead to some price appreciation early in the new year.

Likewise, the 50-bar MA (hourly) has just Bullishly crossed above the 100-bar MA (hourly) and 200-bar MA (hourly), and this may coincide with additional price appreciation.  One level that traders are closely watching early in the new year is the 7391.87 area, representing the 23.6% retracement of the move from 6430.00 to 7688.99 during the second half of December.  Traders note that Bids emerged around the 7059.50 area during a pullback on 27 December, right around the 50% retracement of the appreciating range.  Another level that traders are closely watching is the 7594 area.

Price activity is nearest the 100-bar MA (4-hourly) at 7,174.70 and the 50-bar MA (Hourly) at 7,236.87.

Technical Support is expected around 6526.00/ 6323.42/ 5941.26 with Stops expected below.

Technical Resistance is expected around 7870.10/ 7927.23/ 8338.78 with Stops expected above.

On 4-Hourly chart, SlowK is Bullishly above SlowD while MACD is Bearishly below MACDAverage.

On 60-minute chart, SlowK is Bullishly above SlowD while MACD is Bullishly above MACDAverage.

Ethereum (ETH/USD) appreciated early in today’s Asian session as the pair escalated higher to the 130.50 level after trading as low as the 127.60 area during yesterday’s North American session. The pair was poised to open the new year trading around the 130.00 figure, and in contrast had opened 2019 around the 132.12 level.  The market was quite weak during the latter part of last year, and traders are curious to see if this general market weakness will extend into the new year, or if traders will adopt a more positive trading bias.  Market technicians note that the 50-bar MA (4-hourly) is Bullishly converging with the 100-bar MA (4-hourly), and this may coincide with some short-term price appreciation. 

Both the 50-bar MA (4-hourly) and 100-bar MA (4-hourly) are trading below the 200-bar MA (4-hourly), and traders will need to advance past the 200-bar MA (4-hourly) in order to solidify a shift in market sentiment.  Many chartists believe the pair will remain on the defensive as long as it trades below the 147.60 area, representing the 76.4% retracement of the 80.60 – 364.49 range.  The 132.90 area remains a very important technical level, representing the 23.6% retracement of the 302.20 – 80.60 range.  Above that area, the 135.90 area represents another important level, representing a downside price target related to the late-October high of 199.50.

Price activity is nearest the 100-bar MA (4-hourly) at 129.75 and the 100-bar MA (Hourly) at 130.24.

Technical Support is expected around 119.50/ 115.60/ 111.17 with Stops expected below.

Technical Resistance is expected around 137.61/ 141.74/ 146.00 with Stops expected above.

On 4-Hourly chart, SlowK is Bullishly above SlowD while MACD is Bearishly below MACDAverage.

On 60-minute chart, SlowK is Bullishly above SlowD while MACD is Bullishly above MACDAverage.