March 19, 2024

Huge intraday rally as Volatility continues

The Market: It is not uncommon when the S&P is down 25+ points intraday for their to be a rally but to see the index trade down over 30 points and then finish the session slightly up is surprising.  Even with the recent volatility, we remain within a range from, roughly, 2130 to 2050 in the S&P.  We are interested to see if the Bulls can build on today’s move off the low and gap higher tomorrow.  If not, we would not rule out the S&P revisiting today’s lows in the short-term.  Expect the volatility to continue. Leading sectors today…

Weak ADP data helps market gap

The Market: The market gapped and continued higher for the first hour of trading which the news attributed to a weak ADP number which could keep the Fed from raising interest rates anytime soon.  After the first hour of trading the major indices began to lose ground and, while they all finished up on the day, they were all also well off their highs. Leading on the WSC Scoreboard was Retail (XRT) which was the only sector to finish up by over 1% followed closely by Technology (XLK) which closed up 0.97%.  The only two losing sectors on the day…

Sellers appear on slow news day

The Market: An initial gap down in the morning found buyers but only to roughly flat on the session when the seller stepped back in and controlled the remainder of the day with all 4 of the WSC Scoreboard main indices finishing lower led by the Dow (DIA) while closed down nearly 1%. All of the WSC Scoreboard sectors were lower on the session with the largest losses realized in Transportation (IYT), Matierials (XLB) and Heath Care (XLV). Not many comments tonight but we would be cautious here.  The market looks to be oversold in the short term and due…

Greece today, FOMC tomorrow

Index & Sector performance 6/15/15 The Market: An early gap down was attributed to their being no Greece bail-out deal over the weekend but the market found a bottom in early trading and drifted higher the remainder of the session.  If the market can hold today’s low then it can start to build a base but below and it looks like it could target 2050 quickly. Healthcare (XLV) was the only sector on the WSC Scoreboard to finish higher for the session and is still holding its 50 day SMA.  The biggest laggards were Industrials (XLI), Materials (XLB), and Technology…

Market rollercoaster continues

Index & Sector performance 4/1/15 The Market: For those who do not track the futures you would think that today started off with a small gap that then snowballed into something much larger but the first shot lower was actually yesterday evening when the S&P futures dropped nearly 30 points in roughly an hour.  Amazingly the index recouped nearly all the losses by the open but then started to make its way back toward those overnight lows which is the action we saw today. Monday’s Wrap noted that we were looking for a pullback in the markets and that the…

Shortened week but already big moves

Index & Sector performance 3/30/15 The Market: Very strong rally across the board today with the Dow (DIA) leading the charge followed by the Russell 2000 (IWM) and then the S&P (SPY).  In the very short-term these indices are overbought and likely due for a consolidation.  The nature of the pullback will be telling if more upside is forthcoming or if we are heading back down toward the lows. Energy (XLE) led the Sectors today closing up over 2% followed by Financial (XLF), Materials (XLB), and Industrials (XLI) all finishing up over 1.5%.  It was green across the board. Please…

Oil trades below $50 & leads market lower

Index & Sector performance 1/5/15 The Market: The market was again led by Oil’s decline as we closed below $50 per barrel for the first time since 2009.  In the Analyst Comments below you will see a downgrade for Caterpillar (CAT) by JP Morgan.  In the note the analyst commented that up to 30% of CAT’s revenue could be under pressure due to lower oil prices.  Similarly, Evercore downgraded Terex (TEX) to Hold with an $26 target and United Rentals (URI) to Sell with a $87 target citing concerns that oil’s sharp decline will hurt energy investments and thus construction…

Global economic growth concerns weigh on market

Index & Sector performance 11/4/14 The Market: Today’s session ultimately finished narrowly lower with the Dow (DIA) managing to close ever so slightly higher.  Midday the damage was worse as traders pointed to the European Commissions cutting growth and inflation forecasts but after the European exchanges closed the U.S. found a bottom and drifted higher into the close. In individual sectors it was again Energy (XLE) which led the way lower finishing down 2.06% as crude oil traded as low as $75.84/ barrel after Saudi Arabia announced it was cutting prices on oil exports to the U.S.  Traders are cautious…

Fed gains quickly given back

Index & Sector performance 10/9/14 The Market: All the gains saw from yesterday’s Fed driven rally were taken back in today’s trading with the Dow (DIA) and S&P 500 (SPY) closing down nearly 2% while the Russell 2000 (IWM) lost 2.7%.  The NASDAQ (QQQ) was helped by Apple (APPL) which managed to post a small gain of 0.22% on the session but the QQQ’s still finsihed 1.62% lower. Some big numbers put up across the sectors led by Energy (XLE) which finished down 3.67% and is now over 4% lower on the year.  The XLE underperforming is not new but…

Down but much better than the start

Index & Sector performance 9/29/14 The Market: All 4 broad market indices closed lower however all also closed well off their lows of the session. The standout sector in today’s trading is clearly the Utilities (XLU) which finished up 0.65% and is currently in 4th place amongst the WSC Scoreboard sectors for largest YTD gain.  The biggest laggard was Consumer Discretionary (XLY) followed by Materials (XLB). In Economic data, Pending Home Sales was a big disappointment coming in at -1% when -0.4% was expected while last months reading was adjusted slightly lower to 3.2% from 3.3%.     Reporting EPS…