Fed to Speak to Banking Committee Thursday

On Wednesday, the market opened relatively flat and was able to creep upward into the noon hour. But around 2:00 pm, the market plunged, erasing all gains from the morning session. A small, late-day bounce kept the market from closing lower. Instead, the day ended up as a churn day, narrow range with a midrange close.  Narrow range days often precede breakouts (up or down). 

Volume was above average on both the Nasdaq and S&P. The advancing stocks beat declining stocks by 1.4 to 1; up volume was greater than down volume by a ratio of 1.2 to 1. The equity put/call ratio closed at 0.76, which means more calls are being bought than puts (put/call is a contrary indicator). 

The Nasdaq gained +4 points (+0.10%) and the S&P ended flat (+0.04%). The small cap, Russell 2000 was the strongest index today with a gain of +7 points (+0.66%). 

Janet Yellen speaks to the senate Banking Committee on Thursday, something which could cause some market volatility.