Ripple price analysis: XRP/USD is back below $0.40 amid growing bearish sentiments

• Ripple's XRP has returned to the previous range amid slow trading activity.
• XRP/USD needs to move above $0.42 for the recovery to gain traction.

Ripple's XRP, the third largest coin by market value, is changing hands at $0.3940. It has lost nearly 2% of its value on a daily basis and 1.3% since the beginning of Friday trading.  The coin slipped back below critical $0.40, which is an ominous signal for the short-term XRP bulls. Ripple's market value has settled at $16.8 billion, while the trading volumes settled at $1.16 billion.

XRP's technical picture

A move above psychological $0.40 proved to be short-lived as un upside momentum faded away on approach to the next barrier $0.4100 and triggered profit-taking on speculative XRP longs. The initial support comes at $0.3900, followed by Jun 12 low at $0.3889. However, the most important support lies at $0.3700. This support area is created by a confluence of strong technical indicators, including SMA50 (Simple Moving Average) on a weekly chart, SMA50 on a daily chart and the weekly low. Once it is cleared, the downside is likely to gain traction with the next focus on $0.3550 (61.8% Fibo retracement).

On the upside, a move back above $0.4000 handle will allow for an extended recovery towards $0.4100 (Thursday's high). A sustainable move above this handle will open up the way towards  $0.4170 (SMA100 - Simple Moving Average - on 4-hour chart), it is followed by 23.6% Fibo retracement located on the approach to psychological $0.42.

XRP/USD, 4-hour chart