Indices had looked ready to break beyond last week's swing highs, but in the end they weren't able to push through yesterday. However, the damage was minimal.
The S&P had a small bearish engulfing pattern to Tuesday's doji. On a positive front, Tuesday's action closed the breakdown gap even if it ultimately wasn't able to challenge the 'bull trap'.
The NASDAQ managed small gains but not enough to generate a fresh breakout. Technicals are all positive, including a relative performance advantage against the S&P, so it's still the index most likely to break out.
The Russell 2000 (via iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM)) had broken rising support but remains above breakout support. However, it's underperforming against the NASDAQ and it's the most distant from its swing high. Small Caps are a required leadership sector in a bull market and its early promise has since stalled. We are still looking at a struggling market.
With the NASDAQ is best placed to rally, it's somewhat concerning to see the Semiconductor Index struggle. Yesterday's close saw a 'sell' trigger in the MACD coming off a breakdown in the rising trendline.
For the rest of the week we need to see the NASDAQ lead out the weaker S&P and Russell 2000, but it's the Russell 2000 which really needs to push ahead in relative performance and it's hard to see it happening at the moment.