NASDAQ Index, SP500, Dow Jones Forecasts – Dow Jones Moves Towards 41,000 As UnitedHealth Gains 6.1%

SP500

SP500 gains ground as traders react to the Retail Sales data for June. Retail Sales remained unchanged on a month-over-month basis, in line with analyst consensus. Retail Sales Ex Auto increased by 0.4%, compared to analyst consensus of +0.1%. NAHB Housing Market Index declined from 43 in June to 42 in July, while analysts expected that it would grow to 44. Not surprisingly, high interest rates continue to put pressure on the housing market. Business Inventories grew by 0.5%, compared to analyst forecast of 0.3%. Treasury yields moved lower as bond traders bet on dovish Fed. The yield of 2-year Treasuries settled below 4.45%, while the yield of 10-year Treasuries declined towards the 4.16% level. Most market sectors moved higher in today’s trading session. Laggards included tech stocks, which pulled back amid profit-taking, and energy stocks.

From the technical point of view, SP500 settled above the 5650 level and is moving towards the 5700 level. RSI is close to the overbought territory, but there is enough room to gain momentum in the near term.

NASDAQ

NASDAQ remains stuck below the resistance at 20,500 – 20,600 as traders take some profits off the table in tech stocks. NVIDIA and Advanced Micro Devices are among the biggest losers in the NASDAQ index today.

In case NASDAQ stays below the 50 MA at 20,424, it will head towards the nearest support level at 20,000 – 20,100.

Dow Jones

Dow Jones tests new highs amid rising demand for industrials and healthcare stocks. UnitedHealth Group, Caterpillar, and Boeing are among the biggest gainers in the index today. UnitedHealth Group gained strong upside momentum as its quarterly report beat analyst estimates.

Traders should note that RSI is in the extremely overbought territory, so the risks of a pullback are rising.

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.