It has been an awful week for equities as the central bank bonanza brought about jitters all across markets. A quick repricing towards a 75 bps rate hike for the Fed kicked things off before we got a surprise policy pivot by the SNB.
The only relief is that the BOJ decided to play its cards straight or else all hell would break loose ahead of the weekend. Here's a snapshot of US futures at the moment:
- S&P 500 futures +0.8%
- Nasdaq futures +1.1%
- Dow futures +0.6%
It isn't much when you put into context the sharp selloff from yesterday but it is a bit of a respite after an extremely tough week. The weekly charts are the ones telling the story for US indices at the moment:
The S&P 500 is breaking below the 38.2 Fib retracement level support and is headed towards a look at the 200-week moving average (blue line) at 3,502. That sits close to the 50.0 Fib retracement level at 3,505 and will be a key support region to watch for any potential reprieve as the bears sharpen their claws.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq is threatening a break below its own 200-week moving average (blue line) at 10,795 and that will keep sellers poised to extend the downside momentum towards the next leg. The 61.8 Fib retracement level at 10,291 might offer some light support before the 10,000 mark comes into play.