- Summary:
- Chinese data and stellar performance by tech companies are driving the Nasdaq 100 on its way to its 2nd straight day of gains.
The Nasdaq 100 is building on yesterday’s gains to push forward today by 1.62% on the back of positive Chinese data. Industrial production in China came out better than expected, and also outperformed the previously recorded figure for this economic index. However the same indicator in the US did not perform well. US Industrial Production came in at 0.4%, which was less than the 3.5% registered a month earlier, and also lower than the 1.2% consensus figure.
Capacity utilization came in at less than expected (consensus of 71.7%), but the 71.4% registered was a slight improvement over the 71.1% registered a month earlier.
The data shows that despite the improvement of 1.0% in manufacturing output, most manufacturers have seen considerable slowing of the recovery in business activity.
The Nasdaq 100 preferred to take solace in the Chinese numbers, as many of the tech stocks listed on the index are exposed to the Chinese economy. Companies like Apple and chipmakers Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) continued their bullish start to the week. Nvidia, basking in its latest $40 billion acquisition of chipmaker Arm Ltd from Softbank, is posting a 0.46% gain as at the time of writing. AMD is up 1.34% as its unsecured credit rating has been raised to investment grade by Moody’s Investors Service. Apple is up nearly 2% as it gears up to showcase the latest updates to several key products such as the iPad and the Apple Watch.
Technical Outlook for Nasdaq 100
The Nasdaq 100 is now aiming to target the 11567.6 resistance, as it intersects the channel’s lower border. A break above this order may prompt a push by bulls towards 12003.6.
On the flip side, rejection at 11567.6 may be the catalyst for price to drop towards 11176.3. 10866.5 and 10505.4 remain relevant to the price picture and may become new targets if 11176.3 fails to support any downward moves in the Nasdaq 100.
The US markets are awaiting the FOMC decision tomorrow and special attention will need to be paid to the Economic Projections of the Fed. This may decide the short-term and medium-term direction of the Nasdaq 100 index.
Nasdaq 100 Daily Chart
