The morning gap down on Chinese trade war fears was painted over by some decent buying action over the course of the day. Best of the action was reserved for the Russell 2000, which is now starting to outperform the S&P and Nasdaq; this is good news for bulls for all indices. Technicals are in good shape but I would like to see the MACD expand upwards.

Shorts may think they have their reversal but the last such break in March quickly reversed higher. Volume was light even though technicals weakened with MACD 'sell' triggers for key indices. The S&P has started to see its MACD trigger line accelerate lower after weeks of flat-line behaviour. The S&P has also switched to a point of underperformance against the Russell 2000; this is bullish for the broader market even if it's bad news for the S&P in the near term.

There wasn't much to today's action but for what there was, it was positive - better again in the face of Google's disappointing earnings (revenue miss). The S&P barely registered a gain but with the index a couple of points shy of all-time highs it can be forgiven. Volume was sufficient to register as accumulation.

The S&P maintained bullish pressure with a small gain, a gain sufficient to mark a new closing high.  Technicals are generally bullish, although the MACD has flat-lined.