Directional Bias For The Day:

• S&P Futures are lower at 8:30 AM; moving lower since 7:00 AM – breaking below a horizontal channel between 3969.75 and 3996.00
• The odds are for a down day with elevated volatility – watch for a break above 3989.75 for a change of sentiments
• The key economic data report due during the day:
  • Unemployment Claims ( 222K vs. prev. 234K est.; prev. 228K) at 8:30 AM
  • ECB Press Conference at 8:45 AM
  • Fed Chair Speech at 9:10 AM

Directional Bias Before Open:

Key Levels:

• Critical support levels for S&P 500 are 3964.75, 3948.31, and 3931.46
• Critical resistance levels for S&P 500 are 3987.89, 4001.76, and 4018.43
• Key levels for E-mini futures: break above 3989.75, the high at 7:00 AM and a break below 3969.75, the low at 4:00 AM

Pre-Open

• On Wednesday at 4:00 PM, S&P futures (September 2022) closed at 3980.50, and the index closed at 3979.87 – a spread of about +0.75 points; the futures closed at 3980.00; the fair value is +0.50
• Pre-NYSE session open, futures are mixed – at 8:15 AM, S&P 500 futures were down by -5.00, Dow up by +45, and NASDAQ up by +13.25

Markets Around The World

• Markets in the East closed mostly higher –  Shanghai and Hong Kong closed down
• European markets are mixed – Germany, Spain, and Italy are lower; the UK, France, Switzerland, and STOXX 600 are higher
• Currencies (Compared to two weeks ago):

• Commodities (Compared to two weeks ago):
  • Energy futures are lower
  • Precious metals are lower
  • Industrial metals are mostly lower
  • Soft commodities are mixed
• Treasuries (Compared to two weeks ago)
  • The 10-year yield closed at 3.265%, up +15.9 basis points from two weeks ago;
  • The 30-year is at 3.406%, up +8.5 basis points;
  • The 2-year yield is at 3.510%, up +11.8 basis points;
  • The 10-Year-&-2-Year spread is at -0.245, up from -0.2386
  • The 30-Year-&-10-Year spread is at 0.141, down from 0.215
• VIX
  • At 25.04 @ 8:11 AM; down from the last close; below the 5-day SMA;
  • Recent high = 27.69 on August 30; low = 23.19 on September 2
  • Sentiment: Risk-Off

The trend and patterns in various time frames for S&P 500:

Previous Session

Major U.S. indices closed higher on Wednesday, September 7, in mixed volume. S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite traded in lower volume. The major indices opened higher and then drifted higher for the rest of the day. All but one S&P sector – Energy – closed higher.

From Briefing.com:

[…] The Nasdaq broke its seven-session losing streak as the major indices all closed just off session highs. […] The slight moderation in the US Dollar Index, which fell 0.6% to 109.58 today, helped the buying effort. The USD/JPY, up 1.5% at its peak today, was up 0.7% to 143.83. The EUR/USD was up 1.1% to 1.0010. Buying was broad based as advancers outpaced decliners by a 3-to-1 margin at the NYSE and a greater than 2-to-1 margin at the Nasdaq. […] Ten of the 11 sectors closed with gains that ranged from 1.6% (information technology) to 3.1% (utilities). The lone laggard in the red was energy (-1.2%) amid falling oil prices. WTI crude oil futures fell 5.9% to $81.84/bbl. Natural gas futures fell 4.4% to $7.83/mmbtu. Treasury yields were also down today. The 2-yr note yield fell six basis points to 3.45% while the 10-yr note yield fell eight basis points to 3.27%. […] The weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index showed a 0.8% decline compared to last week’s 3.7% decline The trade deficit narrowed to $70.6 billion (Briefing.com consensus -$70.2 billion) in July from a downwardly revised deficit of $80.9 billion (from -$79.6 billion) in June. The improvement was the result of July imports being $9.7 billion less than June imports and July exports being $0.5 billion more than June exports. Dow Jones Industrial Average: -13.1% YTD S&P 400: -14.4% YTD S&P 500: -16.5% YTD Russell 2000: -18.4% YTD Nasdaq Composite: -24.6% YTD Overseas:  Europe: DAX +0.4%, FTSE -0.9%, CAC +0.0% Asia: Nikkei -0.7%, Hang Seng -0.8%, Shanghai +0.1% Commodities:  Crude Oil -5.13 @ 81.84 Nat Gas -0.36 @ 7.81 Gold +16.20 @ 1728.70 Silver +0.42 @ 18.32 Copper -0.03 @ 3.43