S&P 500/Nasdaq 100 Offer Several Short-term Reference Points

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What’s inside:

• Lines/levels showing up in the S&P 500 & Nasdaq 100 worth noting

• Offer guidance for short-term traders to operate off of

• Bigger picture not presenting a lot of clarity at the moment, continuing to focus on short-term charts

On Tuesday, we looked at several angles of influence with regards to the short-term chart of the S&P 500. The number of lines to reference has been slightly reduced in the couple of days since, but there remains a couple of old and a couple of new ones added which are worth keeping an eye on for you short-term operators.

To being with, the S&P is pulling off a trend-line from the 9/8 peak along with a multi-day parallel; we will begin there as our guide for resistance in the short-run.

Going back to 9/15 we still have in place a solid parallel we were using as resistance earlier in the week, but now comes in as support on a break lower. Rising up from the south is the lower parallel of a short-term channel. Below there the lower parallel of the channel developing off the 9/12 low will come into play.

The top-side trend-line and lower parallel could funnel price action towards the apex of a triangle, which we would then have to wait for a break of either side before running with it.

SPX500: Hourly

S&P 500/Nasdaq 100 Offer Several Short-term Reference Points

Created in Tradingview

While we are at it, we will look at the Nasdaq 100, because it also has some interesting inflection points worth keeping on the charts. For starters, there is a top-side parallel which the tech-heavy index is failing to climb above. For the Nasdaq to tilt bullish it will need to clear this hurdle.

At the time of this writing the index is on the verge of breaking a short-term trend-line dating back to Tuesday. A bit further down is the trend-line rising up from the 9/12 low along with horizontal support in the 4850 vicinity.

A break below both t-lines and horizontal support will bring into focus the lower parallel running back to 9/12. It has numerous inflection points, making it a key angle to pay attention to; it also adds weight its upper parallel as resistance.

NDX: Hourly

S&P 500/Nasdaq 100 Offer Several Short-term Reference Points

Created in Tradingview

Traders can utilize the before mentioned markers as support and resistance for short-term positioning, and until we gain better clarity on the big picture, we will likely be best served keeping expectations of large moves muted in the meantime.

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---Written by Paul Robinson, Market Analyst

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You can follow Paul on Twitter at @PaulRobinsonFX.

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