Market Whoop-de-doo Day
Wednesday was a "woop-de-doo" day, and you needed a well-fastened seat belt on your trading desk chair. The market opened slightly lower, retesting Tuesday's low. Around 10:00 a.m., the market suddenly surged higher; the S&P rose 11 points in about 25 minutes. That set the high of the day, and the market subsequently declined , slowly at first, then rapidly, undercutting the mornings low. From there, it made a sudden V-reversal and rose as quickly as it fell, closing around midrange for the day.
At the closing bell, the Nasdaq ended the day flat, the S&P slid -2 points (-0.13%), and the Dow lost -25 points (-0.19%). Volume was greater than average, but the fact that the markets ended the day with mild losses means this was a turnover day. Had the market fallen to a greater degree, it would have made this a day of selling, threatening the stability of the current market uptrend.
The Dow and S&P both made their 4th consecutive down days, but the Nasdaq stopped two consecutive days of losses by closing slightly up on the day. Today's low in the S&P (1,779) was supported by the "hourly" 200 moving average. The Nasdaq found support at the hourly "50" EMA, and the index continues to be strength leader of the three major indices.
The NYSE advance/decline difference ended the day at -741, still in negative territory. The VIX spiked to a 6 week high as investor fear notches up. Spikes in the VIX can often represent buy areas, and an "hourly" 50/50 buy signal on the Nasdaq could thwart the current market slide.