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U.S. equity index futures mixed, little changed
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JPMorgan takes over First Republic Bank
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European markets closed for May Day
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Dollar ~flat; gold gains; crude off >2%; bitcoin off ~2.5%
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U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield edges up to ~3.47%
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S&P 500 INDEX: PUFFED UP FOR WHAT COULD BE A PIVOTAL WEEK
(0900 EDT/1300 GMT)
The S&P 500 index ended Friday back above the weekly
Ichimoku cloud formation for the first time in more than a year.
Although seen as a bullish development, the benchmark index
still faces a cluster of major resistance hurdles not far above
Friday's 4,169.48 close, in a week permeated by a number of big
event risks:
Resistance resides at the Feb. 2 high at 4,195.44, the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement of the March 2020-January 2022 high, at 4,198.70, the 100-week moving average, which ended Friday at 4,202.92, and the August 26 Fed-Chair Powell Jackson Hole speech high, at 4,203.04. S&P 500 failures around 4,200 in late August of last year, and early February of this year, both led to sharp declines. From the late-August high, the SPX lost as much as 17% over the next 33 trading days (tds) as it declined to new lows into October. From the early-February peak, the SPX fell as much as 9.2% over the next 26 tds into its March low. Thus, traders will be keenly focused on this week's action, especially with the results of an FOMC meeting on Wednesday, Apple's quarterly report on Thursday and April jobs data on Friday.
(Terence Gabriel)
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(Terence Gabriel is a Reuters market analyst. The views
expressed are his own)
