Themarkets ended mixed but generally higher, although it was a ratherlackluster trading session and stocks didn't appear to make muchprogress, particularly on Nasdaq, where a lower SOX index put pressureon the NDX all day.
The day started out with a move lower thatheld support and bounced sharply, but then they meandered in acoil-like fashion for the rest of the session until late in the daywhen they rolled over a bit.
Only in the last 10 minutes did theybounce back again to maintain some of their gains.
Net on theday the Dow was up 58.42 to 8555.60, the S&P 500 up 7.66 to 918.37,its biggest gain in 2 weeks, and the Nasdaq 100 down 2.09 to 1453.80. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) lost 4.89 to 261.20, partof the reason there was so much pressure on the NDX today, assemiconductors took it on the chin.
Advance-declines werepositive by less than 3 to 2 on New York and by less than 160 issues onNasdaq.
Up/down volume was 3 to 2 positive on New York on lightertotal volume of just over 1 billion. Nasdaq traded nearly 2.1 billion,but had 4 to 3 negative volume ratio.
So a mixed picture on the indices and technicals.
TheTechTrader.comboard was mostly fractionally changed, with some point-plus gainers andone point-plus loser on our board. Gainers included Goldman Sachs (GS)up 3.36 to 143.09 and JP Morgan (JPM) up 1.44 to 34.19 in the generallystrong financial sector, which also featured Morgan Stanley (MS) 58cents to 28.03 and Wells Fargo (WFC) up 61 cents to 23.70. Bank ofAmerica (BAC) also gained 60 cents to 12.90, and Hartford FinancialServices (HIG) was up 78 cents to 11.98.
Most other groups andstocks were just fractionally changed in a narrowly focused day today,but healthcare related stocks also did well today
OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals (OGXI) dropped 1.31 on lighter volume, after a negative article online.
Steppingback and reviewing the hourly chart patterns the indices vacillated ina narrowing coil until the end of the day when they rolled over. Afterrepeated attempts to break out, they only had nominal success butfailed to follow though.
When you view the hourly charts you'llsee that a downtrend may be underway, and unless they break to theupside with key resistance now at 1470 NDX and the 925 area on the SPX,it's likely we may continue the downtrend.
Tomorrow is quadruplewitching Friday which only occurs 4 times a year, and could be avolatile session, particularly if volume is light with the onset ofsummer.
