It has been a rough open to the trading week for the U.S. indices. Through the first hour of trade, both the DJIA and S&P 500 SPX are in the red. The word of the day appears to be “correction,” as traders are taking an increasingly bearish stance toward stocks as 2018 draws to a close.

Today’s economic calendar is relatively vacant, featuring the release of only a few secondary metrics. Earlier, the NAHB Housing Market Index (Dec.) came in at 56, beneath expectations and November’s figure. This is not necessarily a huge deal, but it does show the impact of tighter FED policy on the U.S. real estate market and subsequent lagging sectoral performance.

U.S. Indices Fall To Start The Week

The March E-mini S&P 500 futures contract has fallen considerably and is now trading under last Friday’s low. At press time, prices are in the neighborhood of 2584.00. While still on the horizon, the key level of 2500.00 is coming into view.

Here are a few levels to watch for the near future:

• Resistance(1): Bollinger MP, 2686.25
• Support(1): Psyche Level, 2500.00

Overview: This week is going to be a fascinating one on the markets, featuring monetary policy moves and institutional traders balancing assets/liabilities for the end-of-year. Wednesday’s much-anticipated FED announcement will highlight the action of the last full trading week of the year. At the moment, market participants appear content to exercise caution and limit risk as the calendar flips to 2019.