nasdaq
The Nasdaq 100 is shaking off the prevailing sentiment in the other US indices as it is up by 0.55% on the day, despite a rise in the initial jobless claims and data from the Philly Fed showing a slowing in manufacturing activity.
Initial jobless claims climbed back above the 1-million mark, and the Index of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey dropped from 24.1 in June to 17.2 in July, a figure which was worse than the 21.0 that the markets expected. The new orders index fell from 23.0 to 19.0, while the current employment index dropped to 9.0, down from the previous figure of 20.0. The index for future general activity rose to 38.8 in August, indicating that survey respondents maintained optimism over the growth prospects for the next six months.
Countering these negative news was the bullish performance of Apple, which is now the world’s first $2trillion valued company. Apple shares have jumped nearly 50% in the last three months, outpacing the performance of the Nasdaq 100 composite index. The Nasdaq 100 currently trades at 11374.7.
Today’s bullish performance has helped the index to regain some of yesterday’s lost ground. The 11453.2 resistance continues to cap price action. Only a break of this level allows the index to post new highs, with the 327.2% Fibonacci extension at 11887.1 queueing up as a possible future target to the upside.
On the flip side, a further failed retest of 11453.2 could be followed by a pullback towards the 11176.3, with 10866.5 and 10505.4 lining up as possible support targets. These two downside targets require a breakdown of the ascending channel’s lower border.
