Nasdaq futures are trading down as we head into Thursday. The overnight session traded a tight range on abnormally low volume. This volume may be skewed as some people are still trading the September contract. Price exceeded yesterday’s high by 3 ticks before falling back into range and working through Wednesday’s upper quadrant for the duration of the session. At 8:30am Housing Starts, Building Permits, and Initial/Continuing Jobless claims data came out slightly better than expectations. The initial reaction is somewhat muted.
Also on the docket today we have the Philadelphia Fed at 10am and the FOMC Rate Decision at 2pm.
Yesterday we opened flat and had a classic open auction in range. Sellers pushed about 1/3 into Tuesday’s range before the market found responsive buyers. From there we spent the rest of the morning working higher. Sellers worked price back to the mid early in the afternoon before buyers worked price back to the high to end the day.
Heading into today, my primary expectation is for sellers to work into the tape. Look for a push down to 4362.50. Then look for buyers here and two way trade to ensue ahead of the FOMC rate decision.
Hypo 2 the market stays firm and works higher to take out overnight high 4383 and continue exploring higher. Look for sellers to show up around 4415.50.
Hypo 3 sellers push a bit deeper, down though 4362.50 and 4359 setting up a move to target 4352.
Levels:
Viz.