NASDAQ Index, SP500, Dow Jones Forecasts – Stocks Gain Ground Despite Rising Oil Prices

SP500 Gains Ground As Pending Home Sales Beat Estimates

SP500 is moving higher as traders react to the better-than-expected Pending Home Sales report. The report indicated that Pending Home Sales increased by +1.8% month-over-month, compared to analyst forecast of -0.5%.

On a year-over-year basis, Pending Home Sales decreased by -0.8%, compared to analyst consensus of -1.8%.

As usual, traders also focused on the developments in the Middle East. President Trump has recently said that U.S. needed a couple more weeks to defeat Iran. Meanwhile, oil traders are betting on a long conflict. WTI oil climbed above the $96.00 level, while Brent oil moved above $103.00.

The key port of Fujairah in the UAE was forced to stop loadings, while a natural gas field in the country stopped operations after a drone attack.

Israel said that Iran’s top security chief Larijani was killed. Iran did not confirm his death. U.S. and Israel have already delivered successful strikes against multiple leaders in Iran, but these strikes had little impact on Iran’s ability to strike oil-producing countries in the region.

Not surprisingly, energy stocks were among the biggest gainers today. Traders bet on a long conflict and do not believe that oil prices will crash immediately after the war comes to an end.

Most other sectors have also managed to gain ground in today’s trading session as traders used the recent pullback as an opportunity to increase their long positions.

Consumer defensive and healthcare stocks declined as demand for safe-haven assets declined.

From the technical point of view, SP500 continues its attempts to settle above the resistance level at 6710 – 6720. If SP500 manages to stay above the 6720 level, it will move towards the next resistance, which is located in the 6790 – 6800 range.

NASDAQ Moves Higher As Western Digital Gains 9.7%

NASDAQ gained some ground as demand for tech stocks remained strong. The computer memory crisis continues to provide strong support to Western Digital and Seagate, which were among the biggest gainers in the NASDAQ index today.

Micron and Arm Holdings have also managed to gain strong momentum in today’s trading session.

NASDAQ continues its attempts to settle above the nearest resistance level, which is located in the 24,700 – 24,750 range. If NASDAQ manages to settle above the 24,750 level, it will move towards the next resistance at 25,150 – 25,200. RSI is in the moderate territory, so there is plenty of room to gain momentum in case the right catalysts emerge.

On the support side, a move below the 24,700 level will push NASDAQ towards the support at 24,350 – 24,400.

Dow Jones Remains Stuck Near The 47,000 Level

Dow Jones made an attempt to settle above the resistance at 47,100 – 47,200 but lost momentum and pulled back.

IBM, which was up by 2.4%, was the biggest gainer in the Dow Jones index today. IBM shares gained ground amid rising demand for tech stocks.

If Dow Jones manages to settle above the 47,200 level, it will move towards the resistance, which is located in the 48,000 – 48,100 range.

On the support side, Dow Jones needs to settle below the 47,000 level to gain additional downside momentum in the near term. In this case, Dow Jones will head towards the support level, which is located near recent lows at 46,300 – 46,400.

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.