Leaders Index 7-10-14

All the markets got hit early on news that the second biggest bank in Portugal missed a coupon payment. After selling off hard in the first half hour the market rallied back and tried to get into positive territory. They were unable to hold the rally and sold off a bit into the close. All the major averages closed in the upper half of their trading ranges but still with decent losses. The COMPQ was down by .52% while the SPY declined .41%. Small caps again were weakest with the RUT off by 1.02%. Volume was mixed, slightly lower on the Nasd and higher on the New York. Even with the closes high in the trading range this was enough to produce distribution on the New York averages. Leading stocks got hit early as well and rallied back later in the session. The leaders index finished about flat on the day with a decline of only .07%. Volume on the index was higher but still below average but the small decline means there was no distribution on the leaders. The index closed near it’s high but still remains below it’s 17dma. For the picture to improve the index must get above this important moving average. The recovery in the market from early losses was encouraging but it would have been better for the market to close in positive territory on higher volume. The day’s action did little to enhance the bullish argument and caution is still the word of the day. Jerry