—The S&P can get going higher, but first it has to break out of that downtrend line ( red arrow) with some conviction.
Stocks pushed higher, offering a reprieve from this week’s rout, as oil prices climbed and the European Central Bank suggested it was willing to offer more stimulus at its next meeting in March.
The Dow climbed 84 points, or 0.5%, to 15849, after earlier rising as much as 272 points. The S&P recently gained 0.2%, while the Nasdaq slipped 0.1%.
Crude oil futures extended their early gains, lifting beaten-down shares of energy companies. Oil prices in New York gained 3.7% to $29.39 a barrel.
The Dow has lost about 9% this year and the S&P 500 fell Wednesday to its lowest level since 2014. Also Wednesday, Japan’s Nikkei and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 index fell into bear-market territory, marked by a decline of at least 20% from recent highs. Good times.
Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average closed down 2.4% after the head of the country’s central bank said it wouldn’t consider a negative interest-rate policy. The Nikkei has nearly wiped out all its gains since the Bank of Japan extended its program of quantitative easing.
Meanwhile, the volatile Shanghai Composite Index lost 3.2% despite a large cash injection from the People’s Bank of China.
I took some partial gains on some of the longs that were issued yesterday TQQQ, SCO, UPRO and SVXY. See the P&L for details.
The SPX has rallied about 60 handles off yesterdays lows. I would have liked for the market to hold on to the highs today, but so far so good. I still DO NOT trust this market until it can prove itself, so stay alert out there.
See you in the morning.
Joe