XJO (ASX) Friends and Relatives on Thursday

Originally posted by redbacka ↑

XJO up modestly again today.+0.3%

The Index is now knocking on the high set back on 19 February. Volume increased today to about 110% of the 20-day Average. Despite the increasing volume, today's action was a narrow range day. There's a battle going on today between the bulls and the bears - but it ended in a draw with the bulls unable to push above short term overhead resistance. Maybe they can do it tomorrow. But a retreat from today's line in the sand would be a blow to the aspirations of the bulls.
The MACD Histogram today went below zero. That's a negative for the bullish case. But it might just signify the slowing in momentum in the market. If we get an improvement in the MACD Histogram tomorrow - that would strengthen the bullish case considerably.
At the moment - this is in stalemate.
There is no equivocation in the Materials Sector:

This seems the start of the next leg up in the Materials Sector.
Here's the chart for the Financials X-Property:

This is the biggest sector in the market. It continues in a sideways consolidation. A break higher would be bullish.
Here's the chart for the Gold Miners Index:

The sideways consolidation continues - and it promises to make a big move in the near future. Continue to monitor.
CSL is one of the heroes of the Australian market. I was pessimistic about CSL's prospects after it reported earlier in the month, but it has recovered nicely since then. It is now back to an oblique rising resistance line. Today it hit that resistance line and retreated a little. Not a good sign - but not conclusive.

A break above that rising oblique resistance line would suggest much higher levels.
Yesterday, WOW had a mammoth rise of 3%. Today's candle looks suspiciously like an evening doji star which could end the drive higher. A big down day tomorrow would confirm. The stock is at resistance and overbought. Today's action was not encouraging for further upside.
WOW reports on Friday. The recent surge might be an anticipation of a surprisingly good report. Such optimism is rarely rewarded. Of course, those who love conspiracy theories would read much more into this. Maybe they're right. Maybe not.

And all of that analysis adds up to - not much at all. Keep monitoring - we're going to see some big action soon.
See you in the morning.
Redbacka

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America Flat as a Pancake. Thursday Morning Joe. 26 February, 2015

American Major Indices:

SP500 -0.08%, Dow Industrials +0.08%, Nasdaq +0.02%, Russell 2000 +0.09%, New York Composite -0.04%. I can't remember a time when all five major indices finished within a smidgin of their starting price.

Here’s the detailed chart for SP500:

SPX remains in a strong uptrend, but the momentum is slowing. Six out of the past seven days have been narrow range days. On each of those days, the range has been less than 0.6%. Such loss of momentum typically comes before a pull back, but, as we saw back in November, 2014, the Index can keep on ticking up slowly for much longer than we expect.

Commodities:

Energy had a strong day and the pull-back seems to be over. Energy up +3.49%. As a result, the CRB Index was up +0.76%. IMs fell back moderately -0.48%. Spot Iron Ore finally moved after five days sitting at 63.40. It was down -0.8% to 62.90. GLD up +0.38%.

Oz Stocks in NY:

BHP +0.46%. Rio -0.51%. Westpac +0.03%. ANZ +0.44%. EWA +0.68%. Ozzie Dollar +0.76%. Given the strength in the Ozzie Dollar and yesterday's modest rise in the XJO, those figures out of NY are not encouraging.

Today we should see some life breathed into the Energy sector. WPL was hit hard yesterday, down -4.22%. It should claw back a bit of that today.

The daily change in the XJO for the past five days has been less than 0.5%. Modest to moderate at best. I can't see much hope of a bigger move today. Last night I noted that the XJO was up against modest resistance set up on 19 February. That might hold today.

Redbacka