nasdaq 100
The Nasdaq 100 index has opened on a slightly positive note, after shaking off earlier losses in the session being posted by the futures asset. The Nasdaq 100 composite index is up by 0.50% and currently trades at 10196.7 as it attempts to break free from the shackles of the 10156.50 resistance area that has capped its uptrend for the past 5 sessions.
Traders are shaking off a lacklustre ADP Employment Change report which showed that 2369K private sector jobs were added in June 2020, which was much less than the 3065K added in in May 2020 (revised upwards) and also lower than the market prediction of 2850K jobs. This slight dip in the report reflects the latest round of restrictions being imposed in several states to combat the resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic in the US.
Most of the job additions (1912K) came from the services sector (trade, utilities, transportation, financial services, professional services), while small businesses with less than 50 employees accounted for the other significant additions (937K).
The Nasdaq 100 and other US markets are also pushing higher on optimism that comes from promising coronavirus vaccine candidate date from Pfizer. Pfizer and Monday’s best performer BioNTech announced on Wednesday that after administration of one out of two lower doses of a coronavirus vaccine candidate, 100% of the 24 participants in the Phase 1/2 clinical trial developed neutralizing antibodies to the virus. This report is not yet peer-reviewed, but was enough to stoke market optimism which sent the Nasdaq 100 higher.
Four potential coronavirus vaccine candidates are being lined up for further clinical trials on as many as 30,000 participants.
The Nasdaq 100 has scaled above the 10156.50 resistance, but needs two closing penetrations by the by two successive daily candles to confirm the break of that resistance. If this is achieved, then 10308.0 (existing all-time high) could be the net possible target. Beyond this level, the 241.4% Fibonacci extension of the downward wave from 11 March to 23 March may be another possible target.
On the flip side, failure to break above 10156.5 could prompt a pullback which targets 9867.1, with 9730.2 also in the running. A breakdown of the channel allows the Nasdaq 100 to push further down to 9626.4, with 9452.0 and 9264.4 continuing to remain relevant if the decline persists.
