The past few days has seen indices rally back to resistance, or at least reaffirmed support. Given the action, it's looking increasingly likely this status quo will continue through to the end of the year and it will be the New Year before there is a decisive move one way or the other. For the S&P, this measn we have a trading range defined by the highs of November and the swing lows of December.  Another tag of resistance would likely mean a breakout will follow as triple tops are rare and it seems unlikely we would see one here.

The Nasdaq broke channel support but managed to finish Friday above its open price in what could also be considered a support test.  The measured move to the 200-day MA remains in play for the index, but until there is a loss of 14,900 the possibility of a double bottom is also an option. The candlestick finish on Friday wasn't that bullish, so edging in favor of the measured move lower. 

While I didn't post yesterday I had thought yesterday's gains held promise with volume rising in confirmed accumulation.  However, today's sharp reversal put paid to those gains. It's not a total disaster, as December swing lows remain intact for the Nasdaq, S&P and Russell 2000 - but the probability of these lows breaking is now significantly higher. In the case of the Russell 2000 we had a "bearish engufling pattern", but note, this pattern only carries weight as a reversal in an overbought market and we don't have this scenario here (stochastics/momentum is oversold).  It does look like the measured move target down is still in play.  Once the December swing low is taken out I would be looking for selling to accelerate.

If we are going to see buyers step in to defend the December swing low for the Russell 2000, then they will need to start buying now. Today delivered the fourth day of selling in a row and only the drop in selling volume offers a suggestion the desire to sell may be on the wane.  Technicals for the index remain net negative and relative performance hasn't improved much since the December low was defined.  A continuation of the measured move lower remains the preferred outcome here.