Cryptocurrency market update: Subdued trading action continues on Sunday, XRP/USD gains traction

• Bitcoin struggles to determine its next short-term direction.
• Ethereum rebounds after posting modest losses on Saturday.
• Ripple remains on track to register weekly gains for the second straight week.  

Major cryptocurrencies stay relatively calm for the second straight day on Sunday and continue to fluctuate between technical ranges in the absence of significant fundamental drivers that could impact the cryptocurrency market sentiment.

Top-3 coins price overview

Bitcoin (BTC/USD) posted small gains on Saturday and closed the $8,300 and is now moving up and down in a tight channel near that level. As of writing, the pair was up 0.5% on a daily basis at $8,345. Unless the pair advances beyond the critical 200-day moving average (MA), which is currently located at $8,700, and registers a daily close there, it is likely to have a difficult time finding its next direction.

Above the 200-day MA, $8,970/$9,000 (Fibonacci %78.6 retracement of June rally/psychological level)  could be seen as the next resistance ahead of $10,000 (psychological level/Fibonacci %61.8 retracement of June rally). On the downside, the first technical support is located at $8,270  (20-day MA) before $7,700/$7,800 area (September 26th, September 30th, October 6th, October 7th low).

Ethereum (ETH/USD) lost 0.5% on a daily basis on Saturday and closed at $180. However, this move didn’t have enough momentum to suggest that sellers were looking to take control of the ETH/USD pair’s movements. In fact, the pair easily recovered Saturday’s losses on Sunday and was last seen trading near $182, adding 1.1% on the day. Looking at the near-term technical levels, $185 (50-day MA) aligns as the first hurdle on the upside before $200 (psychological level/October 11th high). Supports, on the other hand, could be seen at $177  (20-day MA), $170 (October 6th, October 7th low) and $152 (September 26th low).

After gaining nearly 2% on Saturday,  Ripple (XRP/USD)  is outperforming other major cryptocurrencies on Sunday as well. As of writing, the XRP/USD pair was up 1.95% on the day at $0.2783. With this weekend’s rally, the pair remains on track to gain more than 8% on a weekly basis after rising 6.3% in the previous week.  

Looking at the daily chart, the Relative Strength Index indicator continues to stretch higher above the 50 mark, suggesting that bullish momentum is gathering strength. The pair could face the first resistance at $0.29 (October 9th high) ahead of $0.3 (psychological level) and $0.3270 (September 18th low). On the downside, supports are located at $0.2635 (50-day MA), $0.2125 (September  24th low) ve $0.20 (psychological level).