Leaders Index 7-19-19

The market had a nice pop up at the open yesterday and it looked like there would be a positive session. It didn’t last long as the major averages reversed lower after about fifteen minutes of trading and sold off the rest of the day. All the major averages closed at the bottom of their intraday trading ranges, a sign of weakness. The Nasd averages suffered the largest declines with the COMPQ and the NDX off by .74% and .88% respectively. The SPX fell by .62%. Volume was lower across the board, about the only good factor in yesterday’s action. It avoided another distribution day. Leading stocks sold off as well with the leaders index falling 1.10% on the session. The index closed low in its trading range and below the short term 9dma now resistance level. It remains above the more important 17dma still support level. Volume was lower and below average. The market suffered a negative reversal yesterday in contrast to the positive reversal earlier in the week. All the major averages suffered meaningful losses . The selling was pretty constant during the day but it accelerated near the close, mostly on reports that Iran sized a British oil tanker in the Gulf and increased tensions. Lower volume was the only real positive yesterday. It was across the board and avoided another distribution day on all the major averages and the leaders index. It was unusual to see lower volume as yesterday was an expiration day, but I guess people leaving early for the weekend had something to do with it. The market appears to be struggling a bit lately and good gains are hard to come by. The charts of the major averages and the leaders index look ok so littler real damage has been done. It remains a pretty news driven market and although the situation in the middle east could erupt at any time, the real driver now seems to be news from the Fed. There will be a meeting at the end of the month and the size of the expected rate cut will have a big influence on the direction of the market. Jerry