Early on Monday, Cardano (ADA) is exhibiting signs of bearish trading, down by almost 4% in the past 24 hours and losing over 12% of its value over the past week. At the time of writing, ADA/USD is trading around $1.32.

One of the reasons for the weakness is the somewhat downbeat mood in the overall crypto market since last week, when the Fed came out sounding surprisingly hawkish at its latest meeting. The unexpected comments from a majority of policymakers alluding to rate hikes starting as soon as in 2023 drove renewed interest in the US dollar and sparked a sell-off in riskier assets like stocks and cryptocurrencies.

The sell-off in Bitcoin especially picked up pace, and analysts have cautioned further downside risks which could take the crypto leader all the way down to $25,000 and possibly even lower. As the cryptocurrency with the largest market cap, moves in Bitcoin prices often tend to impact the overall investor sentiment towards other digital assets, and could be considered the main driver behind Cardano’s current bear mood.

In the absence of other significant fundamentals to start the week off, the focus shifts to technical analysis to assess how ADA could move in the near-term. The price action clearly points to a pullback in ADA/USD, indicating that bears appear to be in control, and the indecisive mood among investors could keep Cardano trading in a range in the coming days.

Key Levels to Watch

This is clearly visible on the 4-hour chart of ADA/USD, where moving averages are suggesting a bearish bias while leading technical indicator MACD offers hope for some buying interest. Meanwhile, the Stochastics RSI is holding at neutral for now.

The price is sitting well below the pivot point at $1.44, but offers some hope as it holds above the immediate support at $1.28. In case buyers step up to take advantage of the current dip, we could see ADA strengthen beyond the pivot point to test resistance at $1.59 and then at $1.75. On the other hand, an increase in selling pressure could take Cardano down to support at $1.28 and further lower, possibly breaking down the key $1.20 level and towards $1.13.