The indices are edging higher but the presence of 50-day MAs and/or channel resistance overhead does offer an opportunity for shorts to take a position. Market action does appear to be favouring bearish wedges with prices moving towards an apex on declining volume. The current apathy will break and how it does will define the direction of the next market phase. Today's action in the S&P left the index pinned to its 50-day MA. The tight intraday range offers a low-risk short play with a stop above the 50-day MA and an entry on the break of the ascending support line

Markets had started Friday above the marked consolidations I had drawn on the charts but subsequently ended the week still inside these trading ranges. As a two-day pattern, Friday's close finished as a bearish engulfing pattern across markets which means I'll be looking for a break of newly drawn ascending support (of the last 8 days) in these indices. The S&P still has a MACD and On-Balance-Volume  trigger 'buy' signals but Friday's high (and the high of the bearish engulfing pattern) was the 50-day MA. Sidelined bulls will want to see a convincing break of the 50-day MA, and probably the downward channel before committing. Bears have the easier play - helped by the strong relative underperformance of the index against its peers. Short the loss of Friday's low with a stop above 2,680.

Tuesday saw some upside from Monday's recovery but the trading ranges I marked on the charts over the weekend remain valid so no change in the status quo. The S&P shows this best with the trading range defined by the former 'bull flag'. Today's close left the index just below resistance. The lower close could suggest another run back to 2,590s.

Posted on Investing.com " It has been a rocky start to 2018 with direct and indirect Trump factors; for example, Cambridge Analytica (+ fake news distribution), Trump vs Jeff Bezos and a new tariff war, hitting certain FAANG stocks, with the contagion spreading to those indirectly impacted and the broader Tech sector. But not-to-long ago, the same Trump factors were driving the post-election rally; ‘Business Man’ leader, accelerated deregulation with industry friendly appointments, funding cuts to regulatory agencies and massive tax cuts favoring the investment classes. In reality, the “Trump factor” is a bit of a red herring; it’s the uncertainty and randomness of what may come – be it Trump, terrorists or natural disaster - rather than what has come that’s the problem. With that in mind, we can only consider how markets value FAANG component stocks here-and-now."