For a while it looked like bullish investors and traders would manage to pull the market even into the close. That would have been quite a positive feat after a huge 3-ay rally and going into a weekend.
At 3:27 p.m.New York time today the Standard & Poor’s 500 was down only 0.18% at 2615.58 after being down 3.35% at 12:07 p.m.
But then a late wave of selling kicked in and took the S&P 500 back down to 2541.47 at the close, a drop of 3.37% on the day.
A few thoughts on the day’s action:
First, a drop of only 3.37% and the late afternoon rally attempt suggest to me that bullish investors and traders aren’t willing to give up on this week’s big rally.
Second, the fact that the afternoon rally stalled at 2615 suggests to me that the big battle for overhead resistance will be around 2600. Â Look out for that level next week.
Third, the market action looks increasingly dominated by computer trading. That’s likely to mean choppy action with gains and losses locked into technical levels as programmed trades try to make a buck or three out of narrow moves between the top and bottom of a range between, roughly 2600 and 2350.
Of course, the news flow next week is likely to upset any orderly trading plans.
Besides the 3.37% drop in the S&P 500 today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 4.06%. The NASDAQ Composite was off 3.79%. And the Russell 2000 small cap index was lower by 3.39%. The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) dropped 5.68% on the day.
