Fed chair Jerome Powell suggested the central bank could begin easing back on its interest rate hikes during his speech at the Brookings Institution on Nov. 30. Consumer price index data, set to be released on Dec. 13, will be the last data point the Fed receives about inflation before making its Dec. 14 decision.

• Although the SPY lost its uptrend, the ETF hasn’t yet confirmed a downtrend by printing a lower high. If the ETF trades lower on Monday, Friday’s high-of-day will serve as the first lower high within a new downtrend.
• The steep drop between Dec. 1 and Dec. 6, paired with the slight three-day rise between Wednesday and Friday, has settled the SPY into a possible bear flag pattern on the daily chart. If the SPY breaks down from the lower ascending trendline of the flag on higher-than-average volume, the measured move is about 4.1%, which indicates the SPY could drop toward $381.
• Bears want to see big bearish volume come in and drop the ETF down under $394, which could indicate the bear flag has been recognized. Bulls want to see the SPY close up above the eight-day exponential moving average, which would negate the bear flag.
• It’s also possible that the SPY chops sideways and doesn’t react to any chart patterns until Wednesday when the Fed releases its interest rate decision.
• The SPY has resistance above at $400 and $404 and support below at $394.17 and $385.85.