NASDAQ futures are coming into Thursday gap up after an overnight session featuring extreme range and volume. Price worked higher overnight, pausing briefly near the Wednesday high before briefly pressing above it early morning. At 8:30am a bunch of economic data were released. Initial/continuing jobless claims data came out strong, building permits/housing starts came out mixed, and Philadelphia Fed business outlook came out below expectations.
Walmart reported better-than-expected earnings Thursday morning, shares have traded up more than +10% on the numbers:
Wal-Mart Stores Q2 EPS $1.29 Beats $1.22 Estimate, Sales $128B Beat $126.04B Estimate
There are no other economic events scheduled for today. Nvidia reports earnings after the bell, a major semiconductor and NASDAQ component.
Yesterday we printed a normal variation down. The day began with a gap down to the Wednesday low. After a two-way auction on the open sellers stepped in and drove price lower, down-and-away from the Wednesday range. We tagged the weekly lower ATR band just after 10:30am New York. This price level aligned with a market profile level as well. This would mark session low. Responsive buyers stepped in here, and on an afternoon attempt to take out session low responsive buyers stepped in again and eventually drove price back up over the session midpoint.
Heading into today my primary expectation is for sellers to work into the overnight inventory and close the gap down to 7375. Look for buyers down at 7369.75 and two way trade to ensue.
Hypo 2 stronger sellers trade down through overnight low 7363.25 and tag 7357.50 before two way trade ensues.
Hypo 3 buyers gap-and-go higher, trading up through overnight high 7431.25 to target the open gap at 7458.25 before two way trade ensues.
Levels:
Volume profiles, gaps, and measured moves:
