Thursday saw the indexes open higher on the back of better than expected unemployment news out of June and then slip lower. The last hour of trading saw a dramatic drop but on low volume. Most of the selling looked like profit-taking ahead of a long weekend.
Stock Market Outlook Chart Comments At The Close on Thu Jul 2 2020
The index closed above the 21 day moving average on Thursday. The candlestick was bullish for Monday despite the selling in the final hour of trading on Thursday.
The index is still in a Bollinger Bands Squeeze but with no clear signal either up or down as the index comes out of the squeeze.
There are now 6 up signals and no down signals in the chart.
The index is back to the standard form of the 21, 50, 100 and 200 day format which is typical of a bull market. The market still has to retake the 3200 level and push higher to confirm whether this is a rally to a new high or just another rally in a sideways market stuck in a trading range.
Stock Market Outlook: Technical Indicators Review:
Momentum: Momentum irose again on Thursday.
- Settings: For momentum I use a 10 period when studying market direction.
MACD Histogram: MACD (Moving Averages Convergence / Divergence) issued a down signal on Friday June 12. The down signal was much weaker on Thursday.
- Settings: For MACD Histogram, I am using the Fast Points set at 13, Slow Points at 26 and Smoothing at 9.
Ultimate Oscillator: The Ultimate Oscillator is rising and positive.
- Settings: 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.
Slow Stochastic: The Slow Stochastic has a strong up signal in place.
Settings: 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.
Relative Strength Index: The RSI signal is rising.
- Settings: The relative strength index is set for a period of 5 which gives it 5 days of market movement to monitor. It is often the first indicator to show an overbought or oversold signal.
Rate of Change: The rate of change signal is falling slightly indicating investors shouldn’t expect prices to rise on Monday.
- Settings: 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. With the Rate Of Change, prices are rising when signals are positive. Conversely, prices are falling when signals are negative. As an advance rises the Rate Of Change signal should also rise higher, otherwise the rally is suspect. A decline should see the Rate Of Change fall into negative signals. The more negative the signals the stronger the decline.
Support and Resistance Levels To Be Aware Of:
3200 is resistance
3150 is support
3050 is support
3000 is support
2975 is light support
2950 is light support
2900 is light support
2860 is light support
2840 is light support
2800 is good support
2725 is light support
2700 is light support and marked a drop of 20.4%.
2675 is light resistant
2650 is light support
2625 is light support
2600 is support
2550 is light support
2500 was good support and marked a correction of 26.3%
2344 is the next level of support and marks a 30.9% correction.
2191 was the market low on March 23
2100 is light support
2000 is good support and marks a drop of 1393 points for a 41% correction. Some analysts still believe the index will fall this low in the second half of 2020.
Stock Market Outlook for Tomorrow – Mon Jul 6 2020
The selling late in the day on Thursday should not affect the market for Monday. Selling ahead of a a long weekend is common as investors don’t want to hold too many positions over the long holiday weekend.
Signals though are point higher for the index to start the week,
For Monday we could see a bit of weakness in the morning but the close will be positive and higher.