WEEKLY RECAP

Daily Market Recap (8/20/2021)

Volatile Week Ends on a High Note

After three-days of selling pressure investors stepped in and bought the dip today ending a choppy week on a high note. The rebound was broad based with every sector closing in the plus column led by gains in Technology (XLK), Utilities (XLU), Communication Services (XLC) and Consumer Discretionary (XLY). The Technology and Utilities sector SPDR's both ended the session at new all-time highs. Crude oil prices fell for a seventh session falling back to a level last seen in April as investors grew more concerned over slowing growth as the coronavirus continued to spread. The major averages took a fresh leg higher into the close on a $1.8 billion buy imbalance but ended the week still in the red. Led by a +2.56% spike in Microsoft (MSFT), the DJIA closed with a gain of 225.96 points (+0.65%) at 35120.08, while the S&P 500 added 35.87 points (+0.81%) to 4441.67. The NASDAQ gained 172.87 points (+1.19%) finishing at 14714.66. The small cap Russell 2000 outperformed jumping +1.65%.

Breadth was positive with advancing issues beating declining issues 2.5:1 on the NYSE and 2.2:1 on the NASDAQ. Advancing volume was 75% on the NYSE and 71% of the NASDAQ. The VIX dropped 3.11 (-14.35%) and closed at 18.56. Crude oil prices lost 1.44 (-2.26%) and the September contract closed at $62.25 a barrel. Gold prices eased 0.20 (-0.01%) and finished at $1782.90 an ounce. Bitcoin (BTC) ended the session at $48,700.

After testing key moving average support levels during the week investors came back in, but rotated into defensive sectors and big cap technology. Next week the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium gets underway and market participants will be focused on whether the Fed will feel comfortable beginning to taper their asset purchasing in the face of soaring coronavirus cases. That should lead to a volatile week if the Fed appears overly aggressive.

Earnings releases to watch for on Monday include: JD.com (JD), Palo Alto Networks (PANW) and TAL Education group (TAL).

Monday's Market Moving Economic Calendar: PMI Composite Flash and Existing Home Sales.

Significant Numbers To Watch

DJIA:

33741-Support - The 07/19/2021 low

35631-Resistance - The 08/16/2021 high

34725-50-day simple moving average32620-200-day simple moving average

S&P 500:

4233-Support - the 07/19/2021 low

4480-Resistance - 08/16/2021 high

4352-50-day simple moving average

4015-200-day simple moving average

NASDAQ:

14178-Support - the 07/19/2021 low

14896-Resistance - the 08/05/2021 high

14561-50-day simple moving average

13534-200-day simple moving average