Stocks Fluctuate Following Recent Move Up As Investors Take Some Short-Term Profits

Briefly: In our opinion, no speculative positions are justified.

Our intraday outlook remains neutral, and our short-term outlook is neutral:

Intraday (next 24 hours) outlook: neutral
Short-term (next 1-2 weeks) outlook: neutral
Medium-term (next 1-3 months) outlook: neutral
Long-term outlook (next year): bullish

The U.S. stock market indexes were mixed between -0.8% and +0.2% on Friday, as investors took some profits off the table following Thursday’s European Central Bank’s monetary policy decision release. The S&P 500 index remains within its three-month long consolidation, as it continues to trade along the level of 2,000. The nearest important resistance level is at around 2,060-2,065, marked by previous local highs. On the other hand, level of support is at 2,020, among others, as we can see on the daily chart:

Expectations before the opening of today’s trading session are negative, with index futures currently down 0.2-0.4%. The main European stock market indexes have been mixed so far. The S&P 500 futures contract (CFD) is in an intraday uptrend following a lower opening. The nearest important support level remains at around 2,025-2,030, and level of resistance is at 2,040, marked by Friday’s local low. For now, it looks like a downward correction within a short-term uptrend:

The technology Nasdaq 100 futures contract (CFD) follows basically the same path, as it trades along the level of 4,260. Resistance level remains at around 4,280-4,300, and the nearest important level of support is at 4,230, as the 15-minute chart shows:

Concluding, the broad stock market retraced some of its earlier gains on Friday, as investors took profits off the table. It still looks like a volatile medium-term consolidation following last year’s October-November rally. We prefer to be out of the market, avoiding low risk/reward ratio trades. We will let you know when we think it is safe to get back in the market.