Stock Market Inching Higher on Dull Volume

By: PhilStockWorld

Courtesy of Doug Short. Today was another day with little economic news other than the 8:30 AM ADP private jobs report that surprised to the upside with an estimate of 198K new jobs. The S&P 500 rallied at the open and hit its intraday high less than 30 minutes later, up 0.35%. It reversed directions in a fairly narrow channel to its intraday low, off 0.11%, shortly after 12:00. An afternoon rally lost steam at a level just below the morning high. In the final hour of trading the index essentially bounced off its opening price 15 minutes before the close, rising to a 0.11% gain for the day … fractional, but still a new interim high.

Volume was dull — slightly below its 50-day moving average. This, together with the fractional gain, suggests little conviction in today’s new interim high.

Here’s a 5-minute chart of today’s action.

Here’s a daily chart of the SPY ETF, which gives a better sense of trader mentality. Two points are notable on today’s data: Very weak volume and a solid black candlestick, which means that, despite the daily gain, the open was higher than the close.

The S&P 500 is now up 8.08% for 2013 and at a new interim high.

From a longer-term perspective, the index is 127.8% above the March 2009 closing low and 1.5% below the nominal all-time high of October 2007.

For a better sense of how these declines figure into a larger historical context, here’s a long-term view of secular bull and bear markets in the S&P Composite since 1871.

- Phil

www.philstockworld.com

Philip R. Davis is a founder of Phil's Stock World (www.philstockworld.com), a stock and options trading site that teaches the art of options trading to newcomers and devises advanced strategies for expert traders. Mr. Davis is a serial entrepreneur, having founded software company Accu-Title, a real estate title insurance software solution, and is also the President of the Delphi Consulting Corp., an M&A consulting firm that helps large and small companies obtain funding and close deals. He was also the founder of Accu-Search, a property data corporation that was sold to DataTrace in 2004 and Personality Plus, a precursor to eHarmony.com. Phil was a former editor of a UMass/Amherst humor magazine and it shows in his writing -- which is filled with colorful commentary along with very specific ideas on stock option purchases (Phil rarely holds actual stocks). Visit: Phil's Stock World (www.philstockworld.com)

© 2013 Copyright  PhilStockWorld - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.

© 2005-2022 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.