Leaders Index 8-26-21

The market sold off moderately today on news of a terrorist attack in Afghanistan. The market opened moderately lower and continued selling off during the day as more news came out. All the major averages finished at or very near their intraday trading lows. The losses were pretty evenly divided with the COMPQ and the NDX declining .64% and .58% respectively. The SPX fell .58%. Volume was moderately higher across the board, according to Esignal. It rose 8.55% on the New York and 1.23% on the Nasd. This would produce new distribution days on all the major averages, although other sources seem to have different volume numbers. Leading stocks held up reasonably well with the leaders index declining only .20% on the day. The index closed in the upper half of its intraday trading range and held above its 17dma support level. Volume was very light, showing that there was not a lot of selling pressure in leading stocks. The market opened a little lower and started to sell off as news from Afghanistan came in. All in all considering the gravity of the news today the market held up pretty well. You might expect to see a bigger decline than we saw. The selling was consistent throughout the day but the charts of the major averages don’t look like there was a big hit today. The fact that quality growth stocks did better than the overall market is an encouraging sign. The leaders index held important support and volume was light today. The chart of the leaders index looks a bit like it is forming a cup pattern that may turn into a real base. Powell will be speaking tomorrow and that will have an effect on the market. The reaction to today’s news was fairly tame, and that is good. But if things get worse over there that could change quickly. There will be no update tomorrow. Jerry