Leaders Index 3-1-19

The market staged a pretty solid rally yesterday. After a strong open the major averages gave back almost all the gains before buying came in and they rallied into the close. The Nasd averages led the way with the COMPQ and the NDX gaining .83% and .76% respectively. The SPX rallied .69%. All the major averages finished near their intraday trading highs, a sign of support. Volume was very close to Thursday’s levels. On the New York volume was lower by .17% while on the Nasd it was higher by .53%, according to Esignal. This is close enough for there to be different results from different data feeds. Leading stocks were higher as well with the leaders index gaining .73% on the day and closing in the upper half of its trading range. This is a new high on both a closing and an intraday basis for the leaders index. The relative strength line was about flat and volume was lower but still above average. The market resumed its rally yesterday and all the major averages made new closing highs for the move. The fact that buying came after some early selling shows support for the market. The New York averages continue to rise above their short term 10dma’s while the Nasd averages are doing the same and are rising further above their 200dma support levels. The next real test for the market is can the major averages get back to the all-time highs they made in August and September of last year. If they can reach and overcome these levels then the decline we has late last year was just a very large correction in an ongoing bull market. If they can’t then the move that began the session after Christmas was just a strong counter trend rally in a bear market. We will have to wait for the market to tell us which scenario it will be. Jerry