Ethereum gains steam after London hard fork

US stocks rose sharply on Thursday as investors reacted to the strong earnings season. The Dow Jones rose by more than 270 points while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indices rose by 26 and 115 points, respectively. Many companies have reported strong quarterly results in the past two weeks, signaling that there is still growth. Some of the firms that published strong results this week are General Motors, Uber, Moderna, and Zillow. Other firms expected to publish their results today are Shift4 Payments, Motorola, and TripAdvisor.

The US dollar tilted higher as traders waited for the latest non-farm payrolls data. The numbers are expected to show that the economy added more than 700k jobs in July as the reopening accelerated. The unemployment rate is expected to drop to 5.7% while wages are expected to rise. On Wednesday, data by ADP showed that private payrolls rose by 330k, which was substantially below the expected 650k. And yesterday, data by the Bureau of Labour Statistics revealed that the number of initial jobless claims rose by 385k.

Ethereum price jumped after developers conducted the London hard fork. The fork’s goal is to help scale the network and make it more user friendly. It will also reduce the number of new coins in circulation by introducing the concept of burning. Further, the fork will also help reduce transaction fees. It is part of the process known as ETH 2.0, which will transition Ethereum from a proof of work to a proof of stake technology.

ETH/USD

The ETHUSD price has been in a strong bullish trend in the past few weeks. The pair has jumped by more than 50% from its lowest level in July. Along the way, it has moved above the 25-day and 50-day moving average. It has also risen above the key resistance levels at 2,000 and 2,500. Therefore, the pair will likely keep rising, with the next target being at 3,000.

BTC/USD

The BTCUSD pair has been in a tight range recently. It is trading at 40,490, which is lower than this week’s high of 42,000. On the 4 hour chart, the price is along the 25-day and 15-day moving averages. The RSI has made a bearish divergence while the MACD has moved close to the neutral level. This price is also close to the highest level on June 16. Therefore, a breakout above 42,500 will be a bullish sign.

EUR/USD

The EURUSD pair tilted lower during the Asian session. The pair dropped to a low of 1.1822 as traders wait for the latest US nonfarm payrolls data. It also moved below the 25-day moving average. A closer look shows that it has formed a double-top pattern. Therefore, the pair will likely maintain the bearish trend as bears target the key level at 1.1750.