Reminder: Sabrient is available to chat with Members, comments are found below each post.
Courtesy of David Brown, Chief Market Strategist, Sabrient
The S&P 500 Index closed at 1274 today, up +0.54%. This was the third consecutive up-day, but since its peak of 1363 on April 29, it has had seven consecutive down weeks, falling about 8% from the April high. For the past eight days, the index has been searching for support, chattering around the 1275 level. While that may offer support now, 1275 could prove to be tough resistance if the index closes below that level. (It dipped to an intraday low of 1258 last Thursday.)
Today, the market was up broadly. Health Care and Consumer Staples did well (classic flight-to-safety). Transportation was up, reflecting the continued fall in oil prices. Finance was the laggard today. Tellingly, the VIX was down significantly today, settling in around 20 as the market hunts for support. The primary force buffeting the market has been the “will-they-or-won’t-they” question about a Greece default. It looks as if the European Union will come to the rescue, but that doesn’t relieve all the pressure on the market, which is also being pelted by disappointing economic indicators at home. In the past week we learned that business growth stalled; retail sales dipped; the housing market languishes; and initial jobless claims remain above 400,000.
There’s little economic news in this week’s pipeline to move the market one way or the other. Existing home sales tomorrow; new home sales and initial jobless claims on Thursday; and the final first quarter GDP number on Friday, along with the durable goods report. The ones to watch are durable goods and home sales. Decent numbers on durable goods has the best chance of showing continued recovery, and the housing market could be boosted by some decent numbers in home sales. Or not.
Market stats. There’s not a lot to be gained by looking at last week’s cap/styles, except that the market is showing a clear preference for value. The leading cap/style was Small-cap Value, up +0.9%. The “small-cap” part of that equation is surprising, as large caps are the usual safe haven. But Large-cap Value was the only large cap group that was up (+0.33%). The worst cap/style was Mid-cap Growth, down -0.51%.
Last week’s sector rankings relate chiefly to the behavior of oil prices, the dollar,…
