As the opening bell rings on the major US exchanges, the major indices are trading higher. Having said that the NASDAQ index was up over 200 points in premarket trading and is currently up only 136 points. Having said that with the declines this week, any gain is accepted at this point.
A snapshot of the market currently shows:
- Dow industrial average is trading up 447 points or 1.12% at 40,384. For the week the index is now up 0.26%
- S&P index is trading at 46.80 points or 0.86% at 5445.94. For the week, the index is down -1.07%
- NASDAQ index is trading at 143 points or 0.82% at 17323. For the week, the NASDAQ index is down -2.30%
The small-cap Russell 2000 (which is higher this week by 3.24%) is trading up 38.52 points or 1.73% at 2261.42. For the week, the index is up 3.435%. Last week the index was up 1.67% and the week before the index was up 5.996%.
Looking at the NASDAQ from a technical perspective, getting above 17353, and a swing area at 17494 – 17544 is needed to give the buyers some confidence and gives sellers some cause for pause on the downside.
Looking at the US yields:
- 2-year yield 4.387%, -5.6 basis points
- 5-year yield 4.085%, -6.0 basis points
- 10 year yield 4.205%, -5.0 basis points
- 30-year yield 4.460%, -3.9 basis points
Looking at other markets:
- Crude oil is trading down $0.81 at $77.44. For the week, crude oil is down -1.35%
- Gold is trading up $14 or 0.59% at $2379.30. The price of gold is down -0.89%
- Silver is down four cents or -0.16% at $27.79. The price is down -4.81% this week.
- Bitcoin is trading higher at $67,454 ahead of the weekend conference where former Pres. Trump will give the keynote address.. Last week bitcoin closed the week at $68,158. So the price is still lower on the week, but it’s well off its low at $63,424
The USDJPY has been talked about as the reason for the stock decline (open for some debate). The USDJPY moved up to technical resistance between 154.53 and 154.88, and found willing sellers. The price is back down testing the 38.2% retracement of the move up from December 2023 low at 153.65. The pair has found some support buyers on the look.
With traders in stocks, trading USDJPY, holding that level and bouncing might help stocks. Conversely, breaking below 153.65, followed by more selling the USDJPY could hurt the stocks (especially the USDJPY).
