Sellers swoop in afternoon trading to whip nascent demand built after a positive open.  The sell off was attributed to an indecisive Federal Reserve , but profit taking can occur at any time when an extended series of small gains is undone by one big day of selling.  Volume rose in confirmed distribution. The index most vulnerable heading into today was also the one to suffer most at the hands of sellers. The Russell 2000 suffered a big hit as it dropped over 1%, moving away from its 20-day and 50-day MAs. The 'bear trap' hasn't been negated, but it's under pressure. The Nasdaq came back off resistance without registering an attempted breakout. The potential MACD trigger 'buy' failed, although other technicals are still okay. The S&P experienced a bearish engulfing pattern as it turned away from nearby resistance. It too registered distribution and technicals are weakening. Further selling is looking probable here. Interestingly, the Nasdaq

Today's action was more subtle with indices regaining some of the Monday's lost ground, yet not enough to challenge prior highs. Best of the action was the Nasdaq 100. It's well placed to break above 5,450 and free itself from resistance. The MACD is very close to a trigger 'buy' with good relative performance against improving Russell 2000.

It was inevitable after a series of gains that sellers were going to make an appearance and today was the day that happened. The Russell 2000 took the brunt of the selling as it shed over 1% on a reversal off resistance. This brought the index back to converged 20-day and 50-day MAs, which may be enough to stem the loss, particularly as other indices were able to recover into today's close.

Friday was a bit of a non-event for indices as resistance remained a factor. The intraday range was tight as volume rose in suggested churning. The S&P remained at resistance as relative performance again deteriorated from the negative switch earlier in the week. Bears can look to take an aggressive short with a stop above 2,371.