Traders took stock on Thursday's sharp falls with some modest buying. Collectively, Thursday-Friday's paired action might be viewed as a bullish harami across indices, and therefore a swing low. But, I would like to see markets oversold for this to be a proper swing low and this is not the case for markets now.  The S&P fell back to its 20-day MA but is caught between support and resistance. Technicals are a mix of bullish and bearish indicators with 'sell' triggers in the MACD and trend measure, ADX (-DI > +DI). However, bullish is the accumulation trend in On-Balance-Volume and the relative outperformance against the Russell 2000 (although this is bearish for the broader market, at least it's bullish for safety conscious Blue Chip stock buyers). 

With some indices at resistance today's selling was not a surprise. Hardest hit by the selling was the Russell 2000, it lost over 2% as it reversed off the March swing high. Volume climbed in confirmed distribution, but aside from the relative strength loss against the Nasdaq, other technicals were positive. While the selling was heaviest in this index it didn't breacelletnt support. 

Today's gains were small but they were enough to see a breakout in the Nasdaq. Buying volume was down on yesterday's but heavier than usual.

Traders got the spin they wanted out of Friday's data  which offered the impetus for the breakouts in lead indices. It's hard to understand how markets could perceive things as out of the woods but yet here we are, and you play the hand you are dealt.  The pack leader is the Nasdaq as it closed on the February swing high - the next move will see it at all-time highs, following the lead of the Semiconductor Index. These gains have allowed the MACD to accelerate higher, taking it out of its flat line condition.  Other technicals are very positive even though there is a relative underperformance against the S&P. 

It was day which left lead markets poised for fresh breakouts as they finished on resistance or just above resistance (now support).  The S&P ended the day just below the February swing high (around 3,130) as volume climbed in resistance driven profit taking (and also ranked as distribution).  Technicals, aside from relative performance, are all bullish and show no signs of divergence; so the expectation would be for resistance to breach. 

Traders kept their blinkers on as Rome burned. There was very little reaction to the chaos across America, played on a backdrop to Covid19 and massive unemployment. Markets trade on the future, but this future feels a long way away in what was a blip of a trading day. The S&P edged a little higher as it made its way towards February gap resistance.

The week closed strongly with volume rising in confirmed accumulation across indices.  The S&P remained above its 200-day MA on increasing accumulation (rising On-Balance-Volume) as relative performance against the Russell 2000.and Nasdaq remained weak. The index remains on course to challenge the mini-swing high from February - a milestone already achieved by the Nasdaq.