U.S. markets were choppy throughout Tuesday’s session after opening in positive territory while struggling to keep momentum. Nervousness ahead of the Fed’s two-day meeting on interest rates and key corporate earnings kept bullish traders on the sidelines.
The mixed closed has pushed the major indexes back into a mini 9-day trading range that is showing more strength to the upside than the downside, providing near-term support levels hold. Volatility stayed slightly elevated but held key levels of resistance for the 2nd-straight session.The Nasdaq dropped 0.8% following the intraday pullback to 7,011. Upper support at 7000-6,950 held with a move below the latter and the 50-day moving average being a bearish development.The S&P 500 slide 0.2% after testing a early morning low of 2,631. Near-term and upper support at 2,625-2,600 held for the 2nd-straight session with near-term resistance at 2,650.The Russell 2000 slipped 0.1% following the backtest to 1,469. Upper support at 1,465-1,450 held with a close below 1,440 and the 50-day moving average being a bearish signal.The Dow was up 0.2% after reaching an intraday peak of 24,674. Prior and lower resistance at 24,600-24,800 was breached but held with more important hurdles at 25,000 and the 200-day moving average.Industrials and Materials led sector strength after rallying 1.4% and 1%.Communication Services and Technology paced sector weakness after falling 1.2% and 1.1%, respectively.
American Express (AXP) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Atlantic EquitiesBlackRock (BLK) upgraded to Buy from Hold at JefferiesStratasys (SSYS) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper JaffrayCree (CREE) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at JMP SecuritiesNvidia (NVDA) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan StanleySquare (SQ) downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Raymond James
EARNINGS Wednesday Before the Open (EST):Alibaba (BABA), AT&T (T), Boeing (BA), CGI Group (GIB), Evercore (EVR), General Dynamics (GD), Hess (HES), Ingersoll-Rand (IR), Littlefuse (LFUS), McDonald’s (MCD), Nasdaq (NDAQ), Oshkosh (OSK). Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL), Scott’s Miracle Grow (SMG), T Rowe Price Group (TROW), Tupperware (TUP), Unifi (UFI)Wednesday After the Close (EST): Ameriprise Financial (AMP), Cirrus Logic (CRUS), Cree (CREE), Dolby Laboratories (LAB), Facebook (FB), Flex (FLEX), Hologic (HOLX), Limelight Networks (LLNW), Microsoft (MSFT), PayPal (PYPL), Qualcomm (QCOM), Tesla (TSLA), United States Steel (X), Visa (VISA), Wynn Resorts (WYNN)
UPCOMING ECONOMIC NEWS Wednesday’s Economic Reports (EST):MBA Mortgage Applications – 7:00amADP Employment Report – 8:15amGDP – 8:30amPending Home Sales – 10:00amState Street Investor Confidence – 10:00amFOMC Minutes – 2:00pm
METALS / OIL
Gold closed at $1,308.90 an ounce, up $5.80Silver settled at $15.84 an ounce, up $0.07
Copper finished at $2.72 a pound, up $0.04
Crude Oil is at $53.55 a barrel, unchanged
Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC) ended at $4.02, up $0.09
I hope this helps you prepare for the trading day. Make it a great one!
Todd Mitchell
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