LTC price could hit $85 if bulls repeat the +15% rally managed in the past 24 hours
Litecoin (LTC) has hit a new year to date high of $75.92, although it’s slightly lower as of writing.
But the intraday high is its highest price level since early March.
While Bitcoin attracts attention as it approaches $17,000, Litecoin has virtually outperformed all major altcoins in the top ten slots by market cap.
LTC is currently up by more than 15% in the past 24 hours and more than 25% up in the last seven days.
If bulls can master another leap to take LTC beyond a long term resistance line near $80.00, the coveted $100 would not be too far.
At the time of writing, LTC/USD is trading around $73.50. As can be seen in the chart below, the $70.00 level is crucial to the bulls. On the contrary, the short term technical outlook suggests bears could attempt to capitalise on profit-booking to push price lower.
LTC/USD daily chart
The LTC/USD pair has retreated from its intraday highs, but the daily chart suggests bulls still hold the advantage. As per the chart, the main objective, for now, is to keep prices above $70.00.
In case this fails, bulls will have a clear path back up if they avoid damage to the daily pivot around $66.76.
However, they’ll need to regroup quickly after the expected pullback. Here, a fresh assault towards the psychological $80.00 could include a retest of the yearly high around $85.00.
But as the RSI suggests, the massive uptick has thrust Litecoin into overbought territory. As such, an influx of downward pressure could hasten a break below the critical $70.00 support line.
If bears succeed in wrestling control from bulls, the first major support zone would be around last week’s highs near $66.76.
The 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level of the swing high from $56.45 low to $66.76 high offers a breather at $63.41.
Meanwhile, the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement is a resistance-turned-support level at $62.19.
Should bears still have an appetite for more carnage, LTC/USD bulls will rely on the massive support wall at the moving averages. The 20-SMA and the 50-SMA on the daily chart provide a buffer zone at $60.12 and $54.00.