FTSE100: 7700, 7661 Support | Looking Bearish

The FTSE 100 bulls failed to make it past the 7751 resistance yesterday but neither could the bears get it past the 7712 low set earlier in the week. The US was more bullish, with the Dow recapturing 26k towards the end of their session, and the S&P revisiting 2800 after the trip down to 2770 on Tuesday. Cable continued to rise, hitting just shy of 140 as the dollar weakened, which probably weighed on the FTSE and prevented it rising too strongly.

Chinese GDP data is out later, and expected to show the economy expanded by 6.8 percent in 2017 from a year earlier.

Cryptocurrency was in the news again, this time though as the price fell sharply across the board, leaving a lot of 'investors' in it, scrambling to cut their losses as the bubble bursts. A shame for all those that piled in around December believing it was a one way ticket up. Having dipped down to $9100 it has regained slightly overnight, but I expect we will see $8000 or lower soon on Bitcoin. Always good for a gamble on crypto!

For today it appears that the 7750 area is resistance again with levels at 7744 and 7751 to watch. Above this then the fib level of note is 7783, but we may well have a similar pattern to Australia which was a bumble along and then fall. The bears probed the lower supports yesterday and 7700 still looks like a magnet for the price, with the daily support at 7661 below that possibly setting up a decent swing long entry.

The bulls will be keen to build on the rises in the US though, but probably need cable to drop away from the 139/140 level to give them a helping hand.

We are however at the bottom of the Raff channels still at the 7710 level and they are supporting things so far, so the bears still have a big job to break below the 7710 area. If the daily support level at 7661 was to break then things looks quite bearish and I expect most of the rises since December will be given back.

The 2 hour chart is still bearish, with the coral now showing resistance and a down trend at 7764 - so we may see a stutter here too if the bulls are not particularly strong today. Chinese GDP later today and option expiry tomorrow so we may see some profit coming off the table ahead of opex tomorrow.