Market Declines Slightly on Weaker Volume

On Monday, the market opened down and declined further in the morning session. The Nasdaq fell -27 points to 4,307. This tested below the gap up day low from last Thursday (4,327). After 11:00 a.m., the Nasdaq bounced and worked its way higher, closing above its opening price, but below yesterday's close. However, it did manage to close at 4,334, +7 points above last Thursday's gap up day low (a positive sign).

All major indices ended the day slightly down. The Nasdaq lost -1 point (-0.04%), the S&P 500 fell less than a point (-0.05%), and the Dow was the biggest loser, declining -34 points (-0.21%). Volume today was weaker than Friday's, suggesting the morning sell off lacked strong conviction by the institutional investors. 

It was the 3rd consecutive down day for the Nasdaq, but only the 1st down day out of 3 for the S&P. Decliners beat advancers by 1.4 to 1, and down volume beat up volume by 1.7 to 1. With low daily ADX, these kinds of days are not unusual in that they lack a clear direction. Instead, price often tests the previous day's high or low (or both), and then price usually closes inside the prior day's range (this happened today).