Indices Close Mixed, as FOMC Announcement Puts Damper on Prices
by Harry Boxer, www.TheTechTrader.com
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The indices had an interesting session after a very strong early run was followed by an afternoon slide on the post-FOMC announcement. They ended mixed at the close.
The day started out with a big gap up. They ran hard and reached 1814 1/2 on the Nasdaq 100 and over 1116 on the S&P 500. Neither of those were new 2009 highs, although right near them. They then backed off, retested, bounced, but couldn’t get through, and then rolled over in the afternoon. They got quiet just before the FOMC announcement, after which the indices trended steadily lower the rest of the afternoon, taking the Dow into negative territory, but the SPX and NDX managed to stay in the plus column.
Net on the day the Dow closed at 10441.12, down 10.88, but the S&P 500 managed to close up 1.25 to 1109.18, and the Nasdaq 100 up 2.61 at 1800.82.
Advance-declines were positive by nearly 2 to 1 on New York and nearly 3 to 2 on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was 6 to 5 positive on New York on total volume of about 1.1 billion. Nasdaq traded just under 2.1 billion and had a little less than 2 to 1 positive volume ratio.
TheTechTrader.com board was mostly higher, but the vast majority of gains were given back in the last few hours of the session.
Goldman Sachs (GS) was up 2.64 to 165.38, as financials were generally firm, but JP Morgan (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC) closed up just small fractions.
The Direxion Financial Bull 3x Shares (FAS) was up 1.40 at 72.21, and junior biotech Achillion Pharmaceuticals (ACHN) gained 1.04 to 3.19 on 9 million shares, although it closed nearly 70 cents off its earlier high.
New portfolio position Sourcefire (FIRE) advanced 1.68 to 25.50 on 1.1 million traded.
Those were the only point-plus gainers on our board today.
Other gainers of note, portfolio position Rambus (RMBS) jumped 37 cents to 22.64, about 50 cents off its high, and NetList (NLST) was up 31 cents to 6.03 on nearly 9 million, although again that was 45 cents off its high. Genco (GNK) added 40 cents to 24.04.
China Agritech (CAGC) in the Chinese sector gained 78 cents to 29.18, and Brigham Exploration (BEXP) was up 42 cents to 13.07 in a generally strong junior petroleum sector. The U.S. Oil Fund ETF (USO) gained 90 cents to 36.83 on strong oil prices today.
A-Power Energy (APWR) jumped 88 cents to 18.67, and China Automotive (CAAS) was up 26 cents to 20.31 in a mixed Chinese sector.
On the downside, Chinese fractional losers included RINO International (RINO) down 50 cents at 28.74, VisionChina (VISN) down 25 cents to 11.65, SmartHeat (HEAT) off 26 cents to 16.33 and China Green Agriculture (CGA) 94 cents to 15.86.
The Direxion Financial Bear 3x Shares (FAZ) lost 52 cents to 20.04.
Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices were up very sharply in the first half hour, including the opening gap up, but sold off for rest of session with the Dow dropping into negative territory for a mixed close. However, both resistance and support continue to hold, as stocks remain in a 4-week trading range.
Good trading!
Harry
