stock price trading

Stock Trading Alert: Short-Term Consolidation Following Recent Sell-Off - Which Direction Is Next?

February 10, 2016, 6:52 AM

Briefly: In our opinion, no speculative positions are justified.

Our intraday outlook is neutral, and our short-term outlook is neutral. Our medium-term outlook remains bearish, as the S&P 500 index extends its lower highs, lower lows sequence. We decided to change our long-term outlook to neutral recently, following a move down below medium-term lows:

Intraday outlook (next 24 hours): neutral
Short-term outlook (next 1-2 weeks): neutral
Medium-term outlook (next 1-3 months): bearish
Long-term outlook (next year): neutral

The main U.S. stock market indexes lost between 0.1% and 0.3% on Tuesday, as they fluctuated within their Monday's trading range, following recent move down. The S&P 500 index remains slightly above its mid-January local low of 1,812.29. The nearest important level of support is at around 1,800-1,830. On the other hand, resistance level is at 1,870, marked by previous consolidation. There have been no confirmed positive signals so far. For now, it looks like a flat correction within a short-term downtrend. But will this move down continue below last month's low? Is this some kind of a bottoming pattern or just consolidation within three-month-long downtrend, just before another leg down? Last year's August - September lows continue to act as a medium-term support level, as we can see on the daily chart:

Daily S&P 500 index chart - SPX, Large Cap Index

Expectations before the opening of today's trading session are positive, with index futures currently up 0.7-1.4%. The European stock market indexes have gained 1.0-2.3% so far. Investors will now wait for the Crude Inventories number announcement at 10:30 a.m., Fed's Janet Yellen Congressional Testimony. The S&P 500 futures contract trades within an intraday uptrend as it retraces some of its recent move down. The nearest important resistance level is at around 1,865-1,870, marked by previous local lows. On the other hand, support level is at 1,840-1,850, among others. Is this a short-term downtrend reversal, or just another upward correction? For now, it looks like an upward correction, however, we can see some positive action here:

S&P 500 futures contract - S&P 500 index chart - SPX

The technology Nasdaq 100 futures contract trades along the level of 4,000 this morning. The technology index extended its medium-term downtrend on Monday, as it broke below last year's August low. The nearest important support level remains at around 3,950-3,970, and level of resistance is at 4,000. It looks like a correction within short-term downtrend, as we can see on the 15-minute chart:

Nasdaq100 futures contract - Nasdaq 100 index chart - NDX

Concluding, the broad stock market remained within its Monday's trading range yesterday. For now, it looks like a consolidation following recent move down. Will the S&P 500 index break below its mid-January low of 1,812.29? Or is this just a volatile bottoming consolidation before some more meaningful medium-term downtrend's reversal? For now, the index continues to trade along its last year's August - September local lows, as they act as a medium-term level of support. However, there have been no confirmed buy signals so far. We still prefer to be out of the market, avoiding low risk/reward ratio trades. We will let you know when we think it is safe to get back in the market.

Thank you.

Paul Rejczak
Stock Trading Strategist
Stock Trading Alerts

Did you enjoy the article? Share it with the others!

Gold Alerts

More

Dear Sunshine Profits,

gold and silver investors
menu subelement hover background