Leaders Index 2-27-17

The market showed a modest rally today. After opening a bit lower the major averages bottomed out almost immediately and spent the rest of the session working their way higher. The COMPQ finished with a gain of .28% while the SPX rose .10%. The greatest strength was in the small caps and the semiconductors as the RUT and the SOX rallied .96% and .92% respectively. All the major averages closed at their intraday trading highs, a positive sign. Volume was lower on the Nasd and very close on the New york so we could see conflicting results from different data sources. Either way there was no distribution. Leading stocks were higher as well with the leaders index gaining 1.18% on the day. The index closed high in its trading range and volume was lower than yesterday. The relative strength line of the index also turned up as quality growth stocks outperformed the overall market. The line is now just below its 50dma. This is a decent bounce for the index after its decline, but higher volume would have improved the picture. The major averages are looking solid as they are near their highs and acting well. The charts look fine. Leading stocks have gotten into more trouble as the leaders index sold off all the way to its 50dma. It bounced off this very important support level yesterday nicely. It now must get back above its flattening out 17dma. This is important as leaders generally rise above this moving average. The index must get above this level, hopefully with some volume, for the leaders to catch up with the better overall picture of the market. Jerry