The main U.S. stock market indexes gained between 0.5% and 0.9% on Friday, as investors hoped for some kind of a resolution of the debt crisis. There was no unemployment report announcement on that day due to government shutdown. The S&P 500 index extended its short-term consolidation slightly above the 50% retracement of September advance at 1,678.67. Still with no clear trend reversal signals, as the recent fluctuations may form a flat correction within the two-week long downtrend. On the other hand, the nearest important resistance is at 1,700-1,710, marked by the recent local highs, as we can see on the daily chart:

Expectations before the opening of today’s session are negative, as the there are fears concerning government shutdown following debt-ceiling crisis. The major European stock markets have lost 0.9-1.1% so far. The U.S. index futures are down between 0.8% and 0.9%. The S&P 500 futures contract (CFD) is near its level of support at around 1,665 once again, still within the recent consolidation. The nearest important resistance remains at 1,685-1,690, marked by last week’s local highs, as the 15-minute chart shows:

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Thank you,
Paul Rejczak