On Wednesday stocks moved higher on the back of better than expected earnings from a number of companies. With investors anticipated more surprises to the upside for earnings, stocks rose on Wednesday pushing the indexes to all-time highs.
S&P Index Close
The S&P index ended the day up 13.22 to close at 2473.83
Dow Jones Index Close
The Dow Jones ended up 66.02 at 21,640.75
NASDAQ Index Close
The NASDAQ closed up 40.74 points to 6,385.04
Stock Market Outlook
Chart Comments At The Close:
The S&P closed at a new all-time high on Wednesday. The close saw the index pressure the Upper Bollinger Band. It left behind a bullish candlestick for Thursday.
The major moving averages are continuing to climb and the 2425 level remains the key support at the present time. The Upper Bollinger Band is moving higher, a signal of further upside in the S&P.
Stock Market Outlook: Technical Indicators:
Momentum: For momentum I use a 10 period when studying market direction. Momentum remains positive.
MACD Histogram: For MACD Histogram, I am using the Fast Points set at 13, Slow Points at 26 and Smoothing at 9. MACD (Moving Averages Convergence / Divergence) issued a buy signal on July 14. The buy signal is still strong and the MACD histogram is rising.
Ultimate Oscillator: The Ultimate Oscillator settings are: Period 1 is 5, Period 2 is 10, Period 3 is 15, Factor 1 is 4, Factor 2 is 2 and Factor 3 is 1. These are not the default settings but are the settings I use with the S&P 500 chart set for 1 to 3 months. The Ultimate Oscillator is positive and rising.
Slow Stochastic: For the Slow Stochastic I use the K period of 14 and D period of 3. The Slow Stochastic tries to predict the market direction further out than just one day. The Slow Stochastic has a weak up signal in place and is advising that the market is extremely overbought.
Relative Strength Index: The relative strength index is set for a period of 5 which gives it 5 days of market movement to monitor. It often is the first indicator to show an overbought or oversold signal. The RSI signal is continuing to rise and moving into overbought signals.
Rate of Change: Rate Of Change is set for a 21 period. This indicator looks back 21 days and compares price action from the past to the present. The rate of change signal is positive but turned sideways which often signals that the rally will experience a sideways day in the following day.
Support Levels To Be Aware Of:
The market has developed good support at 2425 and light support at 2400, 2380, 2350 and 2300.
Stock Market Outlook for Tomorrow – Thursday Jul 20 2017
For Thursday there are growing signals that stocks are overbought. There are no negative technical indications.
Only the rate of change shows concern with the present rally as it is signaling that prices are going to turn sideways shortly.
Thursday will be higher for stocks but we could start to see some sideways action on Thursday as stocks are becoming overbought.
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