Market Opens Lower and Closes Higher

On Thursday, the market set up a classic intraday bear trap. After opening below Wednesday's low, price reversed and closed above Wednesday's high. Today's range was wide (yesterday's Nasdaq range was 22 points, while today's range was 70 points). Volume was above average for both the S&P and Nasdaq, showing continued institutional buying.

The S&P rose +10 points (+0.58%) and the Nasdaq climbed +39 points (+0.94%). Advancing stocks outpaced declining stocks by 2.5 to 1. Up volume beat down volume by 3.2 to 1. The Nasdaq has closed up for 6 consecutive days and is only 6 points from testing the January high of 4,246. A move to new highs would be a strong statement that the market uptrend is continuing.