Technical analyst Dave Chojnacki of Street One Financial examines the second straight down day for the market averages, which appear to be cooling a bit from all-time highs, and previews Thursday’s action with an update of the important technical levels to watch.
Equities opened lower for the second straight session, as investors decided to take some profits while Geopolitical issues get resolved. The major indices moved in a narrow range during the session, as volume remained subdued.
After trading lower most of the session, a late day rally pushed the major averages to only a slight loss in the session. They were unable to get into positive territory, and the losses were widespread. At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was down 36.6 points, the S&P 500 (SPX) slipped just 0.9 of a point, and the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) fell 6.9 points.
Breadth was decidedly negative, 2.3 to 1, on below average volume. ROC(10)’s fell across the board, with the DJIA the only index in positive territory. The DJIA continues to have the strongest RSI with a 70.8 reading, but has lost some of its overbought weighting. The NDX and SPX fell just below the 60 handle.
MACD’s for the NDX and SPX continue below signal. The DJIA remains above signal. The ARMS index ended the day at 0.80, indicating the late day strength.
Equities fell for the second straight session, and began to break down some short term technicals. We already had MACD’s below signal for the SPX and NDX, and in Wednesday’s session they both traded below their 20D-SMA’s. The SPX closed at 2474, which was its high of the day, but traded as low as 2462. Its 20D-SMA sits at 2471. There is additional support just below at its 50D-SMA of 2447.
The NDX traded as low as 5866, firmly below its 20D-SMA of 5901. It did close above the 20D at 5919. The DJIA remains the strongest technically and continues comfortably above its 20D-SMA of 21796. It also held the 22000 level, closing at 22048.
The VIX was up over 10% at one point yesterday, but finished up just 1.3% to 11.11.
Near term support for the NDX is at 5901 and 5875. Near term resistance is at 5925 and 5950. Near term support for the SPX is at 2471 and 2462. Near term resistance is at and 2480 and 2490.
Europe is lower in early trade Thursday, and U.S. Futures are slightly lower in the premarket. In terms of major economic reports on tap today, we’ll see Jobless Claims at 8:30am, PPI also at 8:30am, and the Natural Gas Report at 10:30am.
The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (SI:SPDR) ETF fell $0.60 (-0.27%) in premarket trading Thursday. Year-to-date, DIA has gained 12.91%, versus a 11.63% 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.