ETH/USD consolidates daily losses before testing critical $200 handle
|- Bearish pressure surrounding major cryptocurrencies stays intact on Friday.
- Ethereum falls for fourth straight day, closes in on $200 level.
- Technical indicators show a deep recovery is unlikely.
After climbing to its highest level since July 14 at $239.45 on Tuesday, Ethereum (ETH/USD) reversed its direction and closed the previous three days in the negative territory. With the selling pressure surrounding cryptocurrencies gathering strength on Friday, the ETH/USD pair extended its decline and touched a 10-day low of $207.50 before going into a consolidation phase.
As of writing, the pair was down 4.25% on the day at $211.45. Following today's slump, the total market capitalization of Ethereum fell to $23 billion from $25 billion earlier in the week.
The lack of fundamental catalysts suggests that Ethereum is suffering from negative crypto market sentiment. In fact, with the exception of Tezos, every single cryptocurrency listed in the top-20 is in trading in the red on Friday.
Technical outlook
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) indicator on the daily chart is now around the 40 mark, suggesting that the pair has more room on the downside before the RSI drops below 30 and shows oversold conditions. Moreover, unless the pair climbs above $218, it will post its first daily close below the 20-day moving average for the first time in August.
The initial support for the pair aligns at $200 (psychological level/Jul. 24 low). With a decisive break below that level, $190 (Jul. 16/17 low) could be seen as the next target. On the upside, $218 (20-day MA) is the initial hurdle ahead of $240 (Aug. 6 high).
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