NASDAQ Index, SP500, Dow Jones Forecasts – Stocks Rise As Retail Sales Drop

Key Insights

• SP500 settled above the resistance at 4990 – 5000 as Retail Sales report highlighted a slowdown in consumer activity. 
• NASDAQ did not manage to gain strong momentum as leading tech stocks moved lower. 
• Dow Jones gained ground amid rising demand for Financial and Industrials stocks.

SP500

SP500 is moving higher as traders react to U.S. economic reports. Retail Sales declined by 0.8% month-over-month in January, compared to analyst consensus of -0.1%. The weaker-than-expected report provided support to SP500 as traders reduced their bets on a more hawkish Fed. Industrial Production declined by 0.1% month-over-month in January, compared to analyst consensus of +0.3%. Initial Jobless Claims report showed that 212,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits in a week. NY Empire State Manufacturing Index improved from -43.7 in January to -2.4 in February, while NAHB Housing Market Index increased from 44 to 48. With multiple reports to digest, traders focused on the Retail Sales data. Fed will be able to start cutting rates faster if consumer activity declines. Fed policy outlook is one of the biggest drivers for the stock market, so it’s not surprising to see that traders rushed to increase their long positions after the release of Retail Sales data.

From the technical point of view, SP500 managed to settle above the resistance at 4990 – 5000 and is moving towards the 5050 level.

NASDAQ

NASDAQ did not manage to gain strong momentum today amid limited demand for tech stocks. Alphabet, Apple, and NVIDIA were among the biggest losers in the NASDAQ index today.

NASDAQ has recently settled above the resistance at 17,650 – 17,700. If NASDAQ manages to settle above the 17,850 level, it will head towards the next resistance at 18,000 – 18,050.

Dow Jones

Dow Jones moved above the resistance at 38,500 – 38,550 as the majority of the index components moved higher. Strong demand for Financial and Industrials stocks provided support to the Dow Jones index today.

RSI remains in the moderate territory, so there is plenty of room to gain additional upside momentum in the upcoming trading sessions.

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