nasdaq
The Nasdaq 100 is trading lower after a rise in the initial jobless claims this week. Today’s uptick in the numbers follows weeks of gradual declines as the economies of several US states reopened. However, rising coronavirus cases in the US appear to have caused a stall in the labour market’s recovery.
Data from the US Department of Labour shows that 1416K first-time unemployment claims were filed in the week ended July 18, which was higher than the previous week’s 1307K and higher than the consensus figure of 1300K.
The rising numbers are causing some real concerns among Nasdaq 100 investors and indicate that the labour market is not responding to the stimulus packages as policymakers would have hoped. Presently, the Nasdaq 100 is down by 110 points, and an intraday selloff is ongoing.
The index is 0.42% lower as at the time of writing, as markets digest the rising jobless claims numbers. The Nasdaq 100’s daily candle has dropped below the 10866.5 support, continuing the bearish short-term trend for the 3rd day in a row. The breakdown of that price level is confirmed if today’s candle closes below it.
This situation opens the door towards the 10505.4 support line (lows of July 7 and July 17), with 10307.3 and 10156.5 only attainable if the channel’s trendline breaks down.
Conversely, a bounce on any of the support levels allows for a retest of the price resistance above it, as broken support areas reverse roles to become resistance levels. Only a break above the recent all-time highs at 11,069 allows for new highs that could approach the 300% Fibonacci extension from the March 10 high to the March 23 low.
