- The Ethereum price is expected to retest the $3,100 region as potential support after a major breakout.
- Recent on-chain data shows that $3,150 and $2,800 stand as immediate support.
- U.S. jobless claims surged to 236,000, triggering a risk-off move across crypto.
On Thursday, December 11th, the Ethereum price plunged over 3.5% to reach $3,215 trading value. These losses align with broader market pullback amid disappointing U.S. unemployment data and the recent Fed rate cut decision, acting as a sell-the-news trigger. While the macroeconomic jitters are adding pressure to digital assets, on-chain data highlights aggressive buyers in ETH, preparing to take over.
Rising U.S. Jobless Claims Trigger Crypto Pullback
The crypto market witnessed a bearish pullback on Thursday as U.S. weekly jobless claims rose to 236,000, a 44,000 increase from the previous data. The figure was higher than consensus forecasts, although labor market conditions are still fairly tight.
As a result, the Ethereum price dived 3.5% to currently trade at $3,227 and its market cap wavers at $390.2. Despite the macroeconomic uncertainty, the latest on-chain data shows strong conviction from buyers to drive a higher rally.
Perpetual futures data revealed net taker volume registered $138 million over the last 24 hours, a significant rebound from the $500 million peak negative reading of late-October liquidation pressure, coinciding with a sharp drop in Ethereum’s price.
The net taker volume is the difference between aggressively executed buy and sell orders in perpetual contracts. Positive readings imply that buyers are paying premium prices to fill now, and sustained negative values reflect dominant selling pressure from market orders.
The gradual decrease in negative taker flow indicates that aggressive buying interest is returning despite spot prices on the verge of lows. Market participants take the shift to be an early signal that downward momentum may be running out of steam.
Separate on-chain analysis found two large accumulation zones for Ethereum. Around 2.8 million ETH tokens are owned by addresses that purchased them at or around the $3,150 level and constitute a possible demand cluster. A deeper cluster lies near $2,800, where some 3.6 million ETH changed hands in what represents a higher volume support zone, should selling really pick up.
Traders are watching to see if the improving taker aggression can push prices over nearby resistance or if the higher number of jobless claims leads to another bout of risk-off positioning across digital assets.
Ethereum Price Awaits Key Support Retest $3,100
On December 9th, the Ethereum price experienced a strong surge in intraday gain, giving a decisive breakout from the resistant trendline of a falling channel pattern. Since early October, the chart setup has been carrying a steady correction trend, resonating within two downsloping trendlines.
Thus, the recent breakout signals a change in market dynamics and bolsters buyers with suitable support for further recovery. With today’s market downtick, the ETH price retested the breached trendline as a potential support.
The coin price also takes support from the 20-day exponential moving average, accentuating an earlier bullish sentiment. If the concrete shows sustainability above $3,300 mark, the post-breakout could drive a 12.75% surge to hit $3,666 resistance, followed by a leap towards $4,245.
On the other hand, if the retest phase is driven within the channel structure, the bullish thesis will get invalidated.
