S&P 500 In The Green Following Cash Open

This morning has brought a positive Wall Street open. Following concerns over global economic growth and pending impact of the U.S. government shutdown, the indices had a tough Tuesday session. Today’s action is no doubt a welcomed sight for equities bulls, featuring opening hour gains in the DJIA, S&P 500 SPX, and NASDAQ.

The U.S. economic calendar is sparsely populated this week. However, there were a few peripheral metrics released during the pre-cash open hours:

Event                                                               Actual       Previous

MBA Mortgage Applications (Jan. 18)          -2.7%         13.5%

Redbook Index (MoM, Jan. 18)                       -1.5%         -1.7%

Housing Price Index (MoM, Dec.)                   0.4%         0.4%

Richmond FED Manufacturing Index (Jan.)    -2            -8

All in all, the numbers are not overly strong. Nonetheless, aside from lagging MBA Mortgage Applications, this set of metrics represents a monthly improvement.

The S&P 500 Is On The Bull

At press time, the March E-mini S&P 500 is in the process of giving back early gains. Price is rotating in the 2636.00 area, above daily downside support.

Here are two support levels that may come into play later on in the session:

• Support(1): Bollinger MP, 2594.00
• Support(2): 38% Current Wave Retracement, 2586.50

Bottom Line: Tuesday’s negative close marked the first two-day losing streak since January 2nd and 3rd. It is very early to tell, but a significant pullback in 2019’s bull run may be on the horizon.

As long as the Swing High (2677.75) remains valid, I will have buys queued up from 2587.25. With an initial stop at 2582.25, this trade produces 20 ticks on a bounce from the 38% Current Wave Fibonacci support level.