Sales in the U.S. fell 0.6 percent, news that came less than 24 hours after the Federal Reserve decided to raise interest rates. Ethereum moved closer to the $1,200 level in today’s session.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin fell below $17,000 in today’s session as markets continued to react to last month’s retail sales data. U.S. retail sales disappointed, with BTC sliding to an intraday low of $16,997.54 earlier in the day.
This comes less than a day after prices approached an $18,000 breakout, hitting a high of $17,725.88 in the process.
Looking at the chart, bearish pressure has intensified following the break of a low at $17,200, with the price now trading at $17,023.22. This slight reversal comes as the 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) has approached a support point at 45.00.
The index is currently at the 47.05 level, and if price strength hits the aforementioned low, BTC could land at $16,800.
Ethereum
Ethereum was also down on Friday, with the world’s second-largest crypto-currency closing in on the $1,200 mark. ETH hit a low of $1,210.35 earlier in the day, which comes after trading at a high of $1,291.32 on Thursday.
Today’s decline sees ethereum move lower for a third consecutive session, breaking a key resistance level of $1,230 in the process.
At the time of writing, ETH is nearly 5% lower than yesterday’s high, with the RSI tracking at 43.50, which is close to a key low. This support point is at the 42.00 level and has not been reached since November 28, when the stock price hit its high, ETH was below $1,200.
If the price strength continues to head towards this bottom, there is a strong possibility that ethereum will trade below $1,200.