S&P500 Technical Analysis – Fed to Shake Up Markets?

The S&P500 has been on an uptrend for 2 months now, which got amplified by the miss in the US CPI in November and unleashed a FOMO type rally out of it.

This “bear market rally” recently run into a strong technical year-long trendline and got some news against the narrative that supported the rally. This narrative was based on bad economic data in hope of a less aggressive Fed and earlier pause in their tightening cycle.

S&P500 Awaiting Key US Data

Tuesday: US CPI.

Wednesday: FOMC Policy Decision

We saw the uptick in the unemployment rate, the US Manufacturing PMI in free fall and the Fed signalling a slower pace of hikes beginning in December with a 50 bps move instead of 75 bps that they adopted for four consecutive times.

Finally, the US CPI report in November surprisingly missed expectations and prompted the market to expect an earlier pause from the Fed as the recessionary signals from the leading indicators may be finally showing signs in the lagging ones.

Recently though, the market got hit by economic data
Economic Data

Economic data typically comes in the form of news releases that are disseminated daily. This information is extremely valuable to retail and institutional forex traders, given the influence such data has on currency rates.Most of the major economic events that are released are reported by sovereign governments throughout the globe. Moreover, there are several economic data points that are released by private organizations that can also move the market.By and large, when new information becomes available the value of a currency pair will change to reflect a potentially new equilibrium created by traders. This information that changes the value of a currency pair can ultimately come in many forms, with economic indicators or data being primary drivers.Why Economic Data Matters in ForexEconomic data is an important barometer that investors can use to measure the performance of an economy. This in turn can influence currency rates.For example, the stronger the economic data, the more likely growth will rise in the country, causing a currency to strengthen. If Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the United States is high, this will help cause the US dollar to rise in value.The reverse is also true. Typically, weaker economic data can forecast a slowing of growth. What traders’ attempt, when trading economic data is to measure how economic indicators are perceived relative to expectations.Before nearly every economic release, the market generally prices in is the median expectation reflected by analysts and economists. These known variables are simply expectations, and the unknown is the actual release. Since currency pairs can move significantly based on new data, traders are always trying to anticipate where the actual figures will come in upon release.Changes to economic data will also filter down to potential changes to interest rates by a central bank. Overall, economic announcements from the United States and Eurozone are heavily watched as they will influence the perceptions of market participants which help drive interest rates and other monetary policy by the Federal Reserve or European Central Bank (ECB) respectively.

Economic data typically comes in the form of news releases that are disseminated daily. This information is extremely valuable to retail and institutional forex traders, given the influence such data has on currency rates.Most of the major economic events that are released are reported by sovereign governments throughout the globe. Moreover, there are several economic data points that are released by private organizations that can also move the market.By and large, when new information becomes available the value of a currency pair will change to reflect a potentially new equilibrium created by traders. This information that changes the value of a currency pair can ultimately come in many forms, with economic indicators or data being primary drivers.Why Economic Data Matters in ForexEconomic data is an important barometer that investors can use to measure the performance of an economy. This in turn can influence currency rates.For example, the stronger the economic data, the more likely growth will rise in the country, causing a currency to strengthen. If Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the United States is high, this will help cause the US dollar to rise in value.The reverse is also true. Typically, weaker economic data can forecast a slowing of growth. What traders’ attempt, when trading economic data is to measure how economic indicators are perceived relative to expectations.Before nearly every economic release, the market generally prices in is the median expectation reflected by analysts and economists. These known variables are simply expectations, and the unknown is the actual release. Since currency pairs can move significantly based on new data, traders are always trying to anticipate where the actual figures will come in upon release.Changes to economic data will also filter down to potential changes to interest rates by a central bank. Overall, economic announcements from the United States and Eurozone are heavily watched as they will influence the perceptions of market participants which help drive interest rates and other monetary policy by the Federal Reserve or European Central Bank (ECB) respectively.
Read this Term that show a resilience in the economy. In fact, after the huge intraday rally caused by a less hawkish than expected Fed Chair Powell speech, the US NFP report surprised beating expectations on jobs created and on the inflationary side higher than expected wages with previous figures revised upwards.