US Indices Forecasts – Earnings Season and CPI Noise Stall Momentum

NASDAQ 100 Technical Analysis

The Nasdaq 100 initially rallied during the trading session on Wednesday, trying to reach the 30,000 level, but has since pulled back a touch. We are starting to enter earnings season again, and the question a lot of traders have on their mind comes down to earnings, but it also comes down to inflation headlines around the world and all of that general noise.

We had broken out of a symmetrical triangle but started to pull back towards the previous downtrend line, and at that point, you could have a situation where, at least in theory, technical analysis offers support. Breaking above the 30,000 level could open up the possibility of a bigger move, as it would certainly be a break of a psychologically important figure. The Nasdaq 100 has been grinding sideways for a while after that monstrous move, perhaps trying to catch its breath.

Dow Jones 30 Technical Analysis

The Dow Jones 30 looks pretty quiet in early trading, as the range has been fairly tight and it is essentially unchanged as I am looking at it here. We are pretty much in the middle between 52,000 on the bottom, which offered significant support during the Tuesday session, and 53,000 above, which has offered resistance previously. This is a market that, quite frankly, looks very flat at the moment, although when looked at through the prism of the last several months, it is a pretty significant uptrend at a 45-degree angle, so the buyers are still in control; there is just no momentum.

S&P 500 Technical Analysis

The S&P 500 looks very much like a market that does not have anywhere to go, and perhaps that is because we are so close to the all-time highs. Keep in mind that there are a lot of concerns when it comes to the Middle East, and of course, the fact that we have just recently gotten lower-than-anticipated CPI numbers. While that is generally celebrated by those thinking the Federal Reserve may or may not be able to raise rates, the reality is a market that is not really driven in one direction or the other. Perhaps it has something to do with the summer, or maybe it is just that traders do not really want to put on a whole lot of risk with so many moving parts at the moment.

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