M&A activity and some good earnings news sparked a decent rally today. Volume increased a bit but it was still typical summer low volume. The most significant development was the S&P closing above its 50-day moving average. The Nasdaq got close to its 50 DMA but late day selling pushed it back down. That late day selling was across the board and was some of the highest volume of the day, so that puts a bit of a damper on today’s action.
There’s still plenty of work for the bulls in the S&P 500. It still needs to break the 200-day moving average and the June high. Until then I will still classify it as range-bound at best…
It’s a similar, but a bit weaker, story for the Nasdaq. Add the 50 DMA to its list of upside hurdles…
And the small caps are bringing up the rear. The 640 area should be tough resistance given that the 50 and 200 DMAs are looming in that zone…
Just one improvement today thanks to the 50-day moving average cross by the S&P 500.
| Trend | Nasdaq | S&P 500 | Russell 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long-Term | Down | Down | Down |
| Intermediate | Down | Lat(+) | Down |
| Short-term | Down | Down | Down |
(+) Indicates an upward reclassification today
(-) Indicates a downward reclassification today
Lat Indicates a Lateral trend
*** I’m simply using the indices’ relations to their 200, 50 and 10-day moving averages to tell me the long, intermediate and short-term trends, respectively.
