Just as sellers were trying to exert some control in the market, along come buyers to soak up the supply and then add to demand. There wasn't a whole lot of buying volume on Friday, but there was enough to at least leave indices near weekly highs.  The Nasdaq didn't close at a new all-time high, but it did enough to pressure the early week high with technicals all net bullish. The relative loss against the Russell 2000 is slowing, but it hasn't yet generated a trigger which would mark relative outperformance

No surprise to see sellers make an appearance after a sequence of gains. It was fairly measured selling without any real panic and the percentage loss was light. Buyers were able to make back some of the losses by the close of business. The first test for the indices will be the January swing high.  Both the Nasdaq and S&P are underperforming the Russell 2000, so there was a risk selling could have been more emphatic for these indices, but this was not the case. 

Monday registered further gains, but buying volume was light. The biggest gain was the Russell 2000 as it added 2.65% on an acceleration of the gains. This was enough to return a new 'buy' signal in the MACD, returning technicals as net bullish.

We closed the week with small doji at the top of recovery rallies for the Nasdaq, S&P and Russell 2000.  This candlestick is typically neutral, but given what's come before I would view these candlesticks with a more bearish bent. The S&P has returned to a net bullish stance in supporting technicals, although relative performance against the Russell 2000 actually ticked away from a possible new 'buy' signal.  While Large Caps are still lagging Small Caps they still have the benefit of a new all-time high to work off.  Buying volume across last week was light; this will need to pick up if all-time highs are to be maintained. What should work in its favour is the 'bear trap'; this will have pushed some traders on to the wrong side of the trade, forcing them to cover (or go long again) if they haven't already.