Market Wrap (recording & summary)

It’s not often that a trend has no “unfinished business” outstanding. That was the case Friday afternoon, which met the morning’s 2452.25 bias-up target, the nearly 4-week old 2454.00 bias-up target, and Friday afternoon’s 2456.50 bias-up target to within 3 ticks.

Not often, but not rare.

Rare is that only one setup was available to create new unfinished business above. That would be a new trend high close. And that condition would create new unfinished business only because it was a Friday. New trend high closes during the week don’t have the same relevance.

Other attractions that Friday’s rally neutralized include any prior high that was probed intraday. Which is a risk. Closing above a prior high can be a breakout or be of little significance. But probing a prior high without closing above it can be significant resistance. The rally risked ending with every new high it probed. But it succeeded.

Its last half-hour reaction down from 2461.25 to 2455.00 let sellers do the same thing with support as buyers did with resistance. The afternoon rally’s last relative low was pierced by the session’s final bar. While that was too late for its break to be relevant, it’s still a failed attempt. Still, closing at the 2456.50 room for noise above the nearly 4-week old “unfinished business” does suggest that buyers need a rest… if only to hunker down as quarterly earnings start.

Details and other markets coverage are discussed in the post-market Wrap recording here.

Check your email for the Saturday Review link tomorrow morning, which begins at 9:30 ET.