The first trading session of 2021 didn’t get off to a great start. The major averages opened higher and all made new intraday highs. Selling soon came in and drove them into negative territory. Some late buying caused the major averages to finish off their lows, but they all closed in the lower half of their intraday trading ranges. The declines were pretty evenly divided with the COMPQ and the NDX declining 1.47% and 1.50% respectively. The SPX declined 1.48%. Volume was higher across the board. There is a little of a comparison issue with Thursday’s pre-holiday session, but it was still heavy volume. This produced a new distribution day on all the major averages. Leading stocks were a bit mixed session, but the leaders index had a strong day. The index rallied 4.04% on the day and closed in about the middle of its trading range. Much of this was caused by strong action in two EV stocks that are components of the index. Volume also grew and was above average. In fact it was the highest volume in a month. The market opened strong and then reversed lower. There is uncertainty about the Senate elections in Georgia and that may have caused some selling, but it was a negative session all around. The big increase in volume is also a red flag as it shows that large institutional players were selling stocks today and the distribution count is building. One day’s action doesn’t change a trend and the results of tomorrow’s election should have a big effect on the market, but the action today was not encouraging. Jerry
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