Leaders Index 4-7-17

After a day containing a lot of news the market ended little changed. The major averages traded in a tight range all day and closed the session with small losses. The COMPQ finished with a decline of .02% while the SPX declined .08%. The Nasd averages closed in the upper half of their intraday trading ranges while the New York averages closed in the lower half of their trading ranges. Volume was lower across the board and below average on both exchanges. Leading stocks mirrored the overall market with the leaders index declining .09% while the index closed in the upper half of its trading range. The index was again unable to break above its short term 9dma and 17dma. This is a negative sign as these moving averages are now providing major resistance. Yesterday’s action was mixed. There were a lot of reasons for the market to sell off, including the weak employment report and the missile strike on Syria. The market held up well, and that is a good sign. The reaction of the market to news is more important than the news itself, and this market didn’t sell off on news that easily could have caused it to. On the other hand the market has been unable to make much progress recently and quality growth stocks are not producing much in the way of gains. We could go either way at this point and will have to wait and let the market tell us which way it wants to go. Jerry