March 19, 2024

Early dip is bought, finishes flat

The Market: Overall a quiet day in the markets following yesterday’s FOMC statement as an early dip in the S&P 500 found buyers and the index finished flat on the session while the NASDAQ (QQQ) led. The S&P 500 looks to need at least a short term pullback to regroup before any longer term move higher but we will be interested to watch that first pullback as we are from from believing the coast is all clear and that the market is off to new highs. In individual sections, Utilities (XLU) led finishing up 0.74% on the session followed by…

Pop off support as FOMC looms

The Market: A nice snap back rally today as the S&P 500 continues to hold the 200 day SMA.  We would not be surprised to see limited action overnight and in early trading tomorrow as traders wait to see what the Fed says at 2pm ET. Yesterday’s laggard, Energy (XLE), is today’s leader finishing up 2.86% followed closely by Transportation (IYT) which finished up 2.75%.  Also posting strong sessions was Materials (XLB), Industrials (XLI), and HeathCare (XLV) finishing up 2.09%, 1.94% and 1.81% respectively. FOMC statement tomorrow and remember we are still in the thick of earnings reports which will…

Market bounces but finishes where it started

The Market: An initial gap higher in the morning was quickly sold as it appeared traders were hesitant before the FOMC Rate decision and statement.  After the announcement, the market pressed to new intraday lows but then quickly turned and rallied to new intraday highs before closing at the opening print. Utilities (XLU) led the WSC Scoreboard sectors finishing up 0.84%.  The XLU reached our target support region and is making a move off that support after a long decline but still has a lot of resistance above and will need to show this is indeed a bottom and not…

XLU stands out in today’s action

Index & Sector performance 2/18/15 The Market: A choppy session overall which ended up finishing flat.  Some negative divergence is building on the S&P 500 60 minute chart but, even when it leads to a pullback, the divergence can exist for many day.  We wouldn’t be surprised to see the index continue to meander and drift higher for the remainder of the week into Options expiration. In individual sectors it was the Utilities (XLU) leading the way and by a wide margin finishing up 2.37%.  We would be watching the XLU closely here to see if it can build on…

Big follow through session

Index & Sector performance 12/18/14 The Market: Following on the rally after the FOMC statement release yesterday, today gaped higher and never looked back with the S&P 500 (SPY) finishing up 2.50%.  Yesterday’s leader, the Russell 200 (IWM), was today’s laggard but still finished up 1.45%.  Unlike previous sessions where the markets seem to take their cue from Oil, today the markets rallied even while oil continued its slide. Again as would be expected on a day like today, all of the individual sectors were higher with Technology (XLK), HealthCare (XLV), Industrials (XLI), Financials (XLF), and Materials (XLB) all finishing…

Markets stop slide, fight back

Index & Sector performance 8/4/14 The Market: After two strong down days, all 4 indices on the WSC Scoreboard managed to find bottoms and rally with the Russell 2000 (IWM) leading the charge finishing the day 0.89% higher.  One note of caution, volume was on the light side when compared to the previous two sessions.  Our suggestion would be to watch the first major pullback after today’s move.  If it is orderly then the market likely has unfinished business to the upside, otherwise we will likely see another push lower. In individual sectors it was green across the board except…

Russell clear winner in mixed start to week

Index & Sector performance 6/9/14 The Market: All 4 major indices on the WSC Scoreboard started the week moving higher picking up where they left off last week including the small cap Russell 2000 which continued its recent outperformance.  The quick start soon came to an end when each index made a top around noon ET which was never again revisited in today’s trading.  While the Russell 2000 managed to finish respectfully higher for the day, the rest of the indices were flat to slightly down. We noted in Friday’s  report last week that the S&P 500 closed outside of…

Early volatility wanes, dull day

Index & Sector performance 6/2/14 The Market: Overall a quiet day in the market if you look at the overall performance but that does not show the early volatility the market saw when the S&P 500 futures dropped roughly 10 points at the open to only “V” bottom and spike back up near where the drop occurred.  After that it was tight trading the rest of the day leaving a small up day in the Dow & S&P with the NASDAQ and Russell 2000 closing on the downside. Today there was some drama around ISM Manufacturing PMI after it was…

The Calm before Jobs data storm?

Index & Sector performance 1/9/14 The Market: A mixed consolidation day in S&P 500 saw the futures up in the pre-market only to sell off at the open.  That sell off persisted until 11am EST losing roughly 15 S&P points from the pre-market highs and then the S&P bottomed and staged a rally which didn’t make it back to the pre-market highs but did take back more than half of what was lost. In Economic data today, Unemployment claims came in better than expected posting a 330K number when 337K was expected but the previous week was revised about 6K…

Ben to the rescue!

Index & Sector performance 9/18/13 The Market: The clock struck 2pm EST and it is time for Big Ben and the Fed to put all the recent speculation, at least for now, to rest.  Neither changes to the current $85B bond purchased program nor the fed funds target rate.  That news sparked a near 30 point rally which ultimately closed up 23 points from the announcement. Besides the Federal Reserve rate decision, in economic data we had building permits and housing starts which both came in lower than the previous month and also below expectations but with all due respect…