The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are both down around 0.45% on the day, pushing each index toward key hourly moving averages that traders are watching to gauge whether the recent uptrend is intact. The S&P is already testing its 100- and 200-hour averages, while the Nasdaq holds a narrowing cushion above its own.
Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are trading lower on the day, with declines of around 0.45%. The move has pushed both indices closer to key hourly moving averages that could determine whether buyers stay in control or the short-term bias tilts to the downside.
S&P tests its 100- and 200-hour moving averages
The S&P is testing both its 100-hour moving average of 7,689.86 and 200-hour moving average of 7,676 in early North American trading. The day's low reached 7,675.69, right near the 200-hour level.
Holding above those averages would support the case that the decline is a corrective move within the broader uptrend. A sustained move below both, however, would tilt the short-term bias back to the downside and suggest buyers are losing control of a support area that has helped define the trend. If the S&P breaks below and stays below, the next downside target becomes the swing area between 7,577.92 and 7,617.37.
Nasdaq holds above its levels, for now
The Nasdaq is also approaching its hourly moving averages but remains above both: a 100-hour average of 26,279.68 and a 200-hour average of 26,216.81, with today's low at 26,341.17. Because it remains above both, buyers retain more control in the short term, but the cushion is narrowing.
Staying above the 100-hour average would keep the immediate bias more positive. A break below it would shift focus to the 200-hour average, and a break of both would move the technical bias more decisively in favor of sellers.
Lower highs add to the pressure on both indices
Since its early-August breakout, the S&P has posted a sequence of lower highs: an all-time high of 7,815.54, a late-August high of 7,771.48, and a September high of 7,756.00. Each rally has stalled sooner than the one before it, a modest negative that, combined with a break below the moving-average support, would make the technical picture more bearish.
The Nasdaq shows a similar pattern, with an early-June all-time high of 27,190.21, an August high of 26,875.52, and a September high of 26,644.00, leaving it further below its record than the S&P. The price action around these hourly averages should help determine whether today's weakness stays a modest correction or develops into something more meaningful.
Source: Investinglive
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