Ethereum is holding the $2,200 level on Friday after a sharp selloff earlier this week, with traders watching a confluence of technical support near $2,156 and the upcoming US payrolls report.

Ether briefly climbed above $2,400 following the US midterm elections before reversing. According to IG, the roughly 8.5% fall recorded on November 5 erased those post-election gains and tracked a broader technology-stock selloff, with renewed selling also hitting cryptocurrency markets — an overlap that reflects how digital assets have frequently traded alongside equities as risk-sensitive assets during macro-driven selloffs.

Market data from CoinGecko shows ETH trading at $2,236.03, down 4.94% over the past 24 hours. The seven-day change stands at a gain of just 0.11%, while 24-hour trading volume is approximately $17.45 billion.

Institutional demand has softened as well. IG reports that US spot Ether ETFs have returned to net outflows, with redemptions totaling $427.9 million over the last five trading sessions — a development that undercuts hopes that institutional buying was beginning to recover. Spot ETF flows are widely watched as a barometer of institutional positioning, since the funds give traditional investors Ether exposure through standard brokerage accounts without directly holding the token.

Key Support at $2,170-$2,156

IG Chief Technical Analyst Axel Rudolph said the sharp selloff has brought the $2,170-$2,156 support zone into play. The 200-day simple moving average, which tracks ETH's average daily close over the past 200 days, sits near the bottom of that range at $2,156. Because it smooths price action across hundreds of trading sessions, the 200-day line is closely followed as a long-term trend gauge, and its overlap with other technical markers explains the concentration of analyst attention on the zone.

Market analyst Daan Crypto Trades pointed to a similar area, noting that ETH is sitting on the 0.618 Fibonacci retracement level — a common gauge of how far a price may pull back — as well as on the daily 200-day moving average. He described the roughly $2,150 level as key, warning that a break below it could extend the decline and give back much of the recent breakout candle.

Nearby chart support sits at $2,251 and $2,205, followed by $2,107. Deeper declines could expose $1,972 and $1,828 if sellers regain control.

IG outlined what a breakdown would mean: a clean daily close below $2,156 would confirm the end of ETH's late-summer recovery structure, shifting focus to the psychological $2,000 region — a round-number level that tends to draw heightened trader attention.

Resistance Between $2,345 and $2,405

On the upside, ETH has slipped below its 20-, 50- and 100-day exponential moving averages, which weight recent prices more heavily than older ones. The EMAs cluster between roughly $2,345 and $2,405, a band that is currently capping recovery attempts.

The first resistance zone combines the 100- and 20-day EMAs around $2,344-$2,348. A horizontal barrier at $2,355 sits nearby, followed by the 50-day EMA at $2,405. Stronger hurdles sit at $2,548, $2,637, $2,782 and $3,076.

Momentum indicators lean negative. The Relative Strength Index, a gauge that compares the pace of recent gains and losses, is near 40 and the Stochastic reading is near 28, a mix that points to dominant bearish momentum.

Daan Crypto Trades said ETH would need to move back above $2,350 to signal that bullish momentum has returned, suggesting traders approach the market level by level to avoid being caught in the middle of the range.

The next test comes with US payrolls data — the monthly jobs release whose surprises can reshape expectations for interest-rate policy and, with it, appetite for risk assets — and a daily close relative to $2,156. A close below that level would put the $2,000 region in focus, while a move above $2,350 would challenge the EMA cluster overhead.

Originally reported by Live Bitcoin News.