Market technician Dave Chojnacki of Street One Financial recaps Tuesday’s anemic stock market action and previews Wednesday’s trading session with an update of the important technical levels for the major U.S. indexes.
Equities opened to the upside on Tuesday, bouncing off the prior session’s low. New Home Sales data and Consumer Confidence were weak, and took the sails out of the market.
Tech stocks were making a comeback from their recent pullback, but the Nasdaq 100 met resistance at its 50-Day MA and slid down from there. The major indices then traded in a choppy fashion, but then sold off in the last half hour.
This left the indices mixed, with the NDX and S&P 500 (SPX) holding on to a small gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell for the fourth straight session. At the close, the DJIA fell 11.77 points, the SPX inched up 0.18 of a point, and the NDX added 0.24%.
Breadth was slightly positive, 1.2 to 1, on below average volume. ROC(10)’s declined, with the NDX continuing in negative territory. The DJIA and SPX remain in positive territory.
RSI’s were mixed, with the DJIA moving lower. The NDX and SPX inched to the upside. The NDX remains as the only major index with its MACD below signal. The ARMS index ended the day at 1.22, a slightly bearish reading.
The NDX tried to recover some of the prior session’s losses, but failed to crack through its 50D-SMA(5910), which acted as resistance. It closed at 5881, just 14 points above its lower Bollinger Band® of 5867. Critical near term support remains at 5750.
The DJIA was the only loser in the session, closing at 22284. It remains above its 20D-SMA of 22102. The SPX inched up, closing at 2496, just six points above its 9 month trend-line of 2490. It remains above its 20D-SMA (2484) and its 50D-SMA (2470). Critical near term support remains at 2417.
The IWM (iShares Russell 2000) made new highs again of 144.61 (closing) and 145.15 (intra-day). The VIX fell 0.04 of a point to 10.17.
Near term support for the NDX is at 5875 and 5850. Near term resistance is at 5900 and 5910. Near term support for the SPX is at 2490 and 2484. Near term resistance is at 2500 and 2508.
Europe is higher in early trade Wednesday, and U.S. Futures are moderately higher in the premarket. In terms of economic data on tap today, we’ll see Durable Goods at 8:30am, Pending Home Sales at 10:00am, and the EIA Report at 10:30am.
The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (SI:SPDR) rose $0.11 (+0.05%) in premarket trading Wednesday. Year-to-date, DIA has gained 14.44%, versus a 12.46% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.
DIA currently has an ETF Daily News SMART Grade of A (Strong Buy), and is ranked #4 of 75 ETFs in the Large Cap Value ETFs category.