The market direction today was for stocks to move sideways but still try to squeak out further gains. However the strong overbought condition and the inability of stocks to keep pushing higher finally has some investors selling out of positions. News of escalation of fighting in the Middle East, combined with the struggling of stocks to push to new highs was the catalyst this afternoon to push stocks lower.
S&P Market Direction – Intraday
The one minute intraday chart below shows a general lack of the usual choppiness. Instead the early morning saw a rally attempt and then over the noon hour a sideways motion with no attempt to push higher. This lead to selling by the early afternoon. While not heavy, the selling pushed the S&P down to below 1952 at the time of my writing this. In order for the market direction to be able to mount another rally attempt, it must close back above 1956 today, otherwise there will be more selling on Wednesday.
Where Is The S&P Heading
Looking at the one month chart, the S&P may try to retest the 1930 level first. This is light support but if the selling does not intensify, that could be the first stop to the present selling.
Market Direction Outlook Into The Close
Into the close the S&P needs to close back to the 1956 level to keep the prospects of higher prices later in the week, alive. Otherwise the market will fall back and I believe first try to look for support around 1930. I will do a complete analysis after the close.
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