Selling Hits Stock Market Through Mid-Month

Heading into the opening bell of the market both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were showing initial signs of weakness.

This weakness was mainly found in the Nasdaq once the bell sounded. The Nasdaq quickly found itself weaker than the S&P 500. This carried into the close, one being negative and the other positive. 

With the majority of selling pressure coming from the Nasdaq, the rest of the market was able to stay afloat out of the gate. The S&P 500 was trying to hold its own, but it eventually followed big tech downward. This led to a strong showing of the bears bringing both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 lower.

Bears took control quickly and strongly, but were met with the bulls after a small pullback toward key internal levels. At these levels, the bulls were able to take back control of the market. At this time, both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 were moving in tandem to the upside like we have seen in the sessions prior. 

This bullish momentum was carried for the majority of the middle morning and into the late morning. However, by the early afternoon, the market ran into a pivotal level known as the 200-period simple moving average. At this level the market was faced with a harsh rejection where there was strong selling volume. 

The bears stepped in and in a big way. The selling pressure that came in at that time frame was the most significant pressure the bears had been able to force into the markets in days. This selling was strong and completely dominated by the bears. This pressure brought both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 negative on the day, negating any previous gains this session.

Still, there was a strong push back by bulls in the last hour of the cash session. This push was able to get the S&P 500 back to a positive day, but the Nasdaq failed to do so. The relative weakness in the Nasdaq and ultimately closing negative was originally foreseen in the way that the Nasdaq opened in relation to the S&P 500.

At the close, the S&P 500 futures closed positive on the session, up .18% and gaining 7.5 points. The Nasdaq futures closed down .20%, pulling back 27 points.