Markets made a break higher, although only the move for Small Caps stuck.  The Russell 2000 managed to finish with a new closing high and is very close to a fresh MACD trigger 'buy'. There was a significant gain in relative performance of Small Caps against Large Caps and Tech.

The week started much like past week's finished with a whole lot of nothing. No volume, no action, no outlook. At least the S&P is holding breakout support. Watch for 'sell' triggers in +DI/-DI and On-Balance-Volume. The Nasdaq managed to gain a little, waiting for traders to break it out of its range.

Markets continued with their sideways pattern in a refusal to succumb to easy profit taking.  The exception looks to be the Semiconductor Index which continued to advance. The only disappointing aspect to the Semiconductor Index is the failure in the MACD to kick higher. It's not a deal breaker as price action and other technicals are very healthy.

The weak start didn't deliver a rout in markets. Instead, after the obligatory first half-hour of trading came the (bullish) reversal which lasted the rest of the day.  The overall picture hasn't changed, with the S&P stuck inside a narrow range, but a panic sell-off looks less likely now. Buyers look keen to defend drops below 2,170 in the S&P.  Volume climbed to register accumulation, despite general holiday volumes. Bulls will want to see a fresh MACD 'buy' to confirm an end to an effective 7-week consolidation.  Aggressive traders can look to the 20-day MA for buying opportunities and/or trailing stops.