Equity Indices (S&P 500, DAX, FTSE 100) Look To Maintain Bullish Underpinnings

What’s inside:

S&P 500 likely to hold a bid; U.S. jobs report on Friday

DAX postured bullishly, but has its work cut out for higher prices; ECB meeting on Thursday

FTSE 100 set to record fresh record highs, no ‘high’ impact events scheduled for week ahead

At the start of last week markets were quiet until U.S. President Donald Trump gave a speech to congress Tuesday evening, providing stocks with a shot in the arm on Wednesday. Most major global indices delivered impressive performances – new record highs were recorded by U.S. indices and the FTSE 100. In the two days to end the week there was a minor retracement of gains, but nothing alarming.

Looking ahead to next week, the economic calendar isn’t overly loaded with risk events, but a couple of key items on the docket could be market-movers; namely, the ECB meeting on Thursday and the U.S. jobs report on Friday.

S&P 500

The S&P 500 rose to new record highs on Wednesday following Trump’s congressional address the night before, but backed off a bit late-week. In a speech on Friday, Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen effectively said the Fed plans to move at a faster pace, but not necessarily more hikes than previously anticipated. The market is expecting a rate hike at the March meeting. Given this built-in expectation, outside of a knee-jerk intra-day reaction, the net impact of Yellen’s speech on stocks was negligible. This coming week, the ECB on Thursday has market-moving potential, and then on Friday market participants will turn their attention to the U.S. jobs report. Neither are anticipated at this time to ‘rock’ current sentiment.

Looking at the techs: The S&P remains firmly planted in an uptrend, but the trend could become unstable given how extended it has become. Nevertheless, there is little reason for sellers to become aggressive at this time without a material price break. Immediately, the Feb. 8 trend-line is in play as support and should hold if the market is to continue its streak of strength this coming week. Markets have a tendency to fill gaps, and should trend support give-way, we’ll be watching for a gap-fill down to 2363. Below the gap, look to the Feb ‘16 trend-line crossing through price action in recent months and price support at 2353.