• Near Protocol and Bittensor extend their rallies on Thursday, leading broader market gains.
• NVIDIA reported $58.3 billion in profits in its first-quarter FY2027 report, boosting AI tokens.
• The technical outlook for NEAR and TAO is cautiously bullish, as the news-driven recovery could stall when facing key resistance levels.

Near Protocol (NEAR) and Bittensor (TAO) extend gains on Thursday, likely driven by AI chip manufacturer NVIDIA's record-breaking $58.3 billion in profits last quarter. The technical outlook for NEAR and TAO is cautiously optimistic as their news-driven rally approaches crucial resistance levels.

AI chip manufacturer posts record-breaking profits

NVIDIA’s highly anticipated first-quarter FY2027 earnings report exceeded expectations with record-breaking revenue of $81.6 billion, an 85% Year-on-Year increase (YoY). The 75% gross margin resulted in quarterly profits of $58.3 billion, signaling strong demand for AI chips. 

Following Donald Trump’s visit to China with the last-minute invitee Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, and the H-200 chips allowed to ship to the mainland, NVIDIA could continue to break the glass ceiling in the coming quarter.

NVIDIA stocks slipped 1% in the after-market trading on Wednesday, suggesting that the highly profitable report failed to boost investor demand. Still, the AI tokens continue to rise as the retail demand sways bullish.

Near Protocol tests a key resistance trendline breakout

Near Protocol is up over 3% at press time on Thursday amid the announcement of network upgrade 2.13 in June 2026. The upgrade will introduce post-quantum-safe signing and Near Intents' automated sharding, called dynamic resharding, to improve the network infrastructure.

The AI token holds a bullish near-term bias as price holds above both the 50-day and 200-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs) and tests a trendline breakout near $1.72 that connects the March 3 and May 13 highs.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is at 71 on the daily chart, rising into overbought territory. Meanwhile, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) sways upward from its signal line to extend the positive histogram bars, suggesting strong but stretched upside momentum.

A decisive close above $1.72 would confirm the trendline breakout. However, NEAR must clear the supply zone near the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level at $1.91, measured over the downswing from $3.18 to $0.84, for a sustained rally toward the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement level at $2.39.

On the downside, initial support emerges at the reclaimed 50% retracement level at $1.63, ahead of deeper cushions at the 200-day EMA near $1.57 and the 50-day EMA around $1.44.

Bittensor's recovery nears the $300 threshold

Bittensor is up 6% at the time of writing on Thursday, extending the roughly 6% gains from the previous day. The AI token pair holds a constructive near-term bias as price extends above both the 50-day EMA at $276 and the 200-day EMA at $273, suggesting the broader uptrend structure remains intact despite recent volatility.

The RSI is at 52 on the daily chart, hovering just above the midline amid mild positive momentum. Meanwhile, the MACD stays below the signal line, but the contracting negative histogram bars indicate that downside momentum is waning.

Looking up, TAO should record a daily close above the $300 psychological threshold to sustain an upward trend toward the $369 resistance level, last tested on November 12.

Looking down, the initial support is at the 50-day EMA around $276, with the 200-day EMA just below at $273.38, forming a medium-term demand band that would need to give way to signal a deeper corrective phase.

(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool.)