Thursday's Market Minute: Unlucky Seven?

As of yesterday’s close, S&P 500 futures recorded the dubious distinction of seven red days in a row, and early morning trading is pointing toward an eighth straight day of losses – an uncommon situation that hasn’t happened since late December 2018.

Despite the long tally of red days and the choppy volatility they contained, the index is down only 3.5% since the Oct. 12 highs. The line in the sand for support looks to be around 3400 level, as it has been a point of frequent resistance in the past, with the confluence of the 50-Day Simple Moving Average just below, near 3396. The /ES has already fallen below many widely-followed shorter-term moving averages, with the downside level to watch at the 64-Day Exponential Moving Average near 3345.

Looking at other technical indicators, the Parabolic SAR shifted to showing a downtrend earlier this week, while the MACD is in the process of making a bearish crossover this morning, suggesting stalling momentum. As the country awaits more news about COVID-19 stimulus and the presidential election looms large over everything, there is still potentially a great deal of volatility to come.

Photo by Patrick Weissenberger on Unsplash