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Major indices close higher and near the highs for the day

NASDAQ down 5 of the last 6 trading weeks

The major indices are closing higher and near the highs for the day as buyers push prices higher in the last hour of trading. Trading conditions were once again very choppy trading today suggestive of a market that continues to have ebbs and flows:

  • Dow, S&P, NASDAQ had their best day in more than 2 weeks NASDAQ close lower
  • NASDAQ closes lower for the 5th time in 6 trading weeks
  • Dow transports close at a record
  • Dow, S&P and NASDAQ are now on a today winning streak
The final numbers are showing
  • S&P index rose 65.02 points or 1.66% at 3974.54
  • NASDAQ index rose 161.04 points or 1.24% at 13138.72
  • Dow rose 453.4 points or 1.39% at 33072.88
  • Russell 2000 index rose 38.36 points or 1.76% at 2221.48
For the trading week, the S&P index was the biggest winner at 1.57%. The NASDAQ index fell -0.58%. The Dow industrial average rose by 1.36%.  Below are the percentage changes of the major global equity indices this week:

CFTC Commitments of Traders: The JPY shorts increase.

Weekly forex futures positioning data for the CFTC for the week ending Tuesday, March 23, 2021

  • EUR long 93K vs 90K long last week. Longs increased by 3K
  • GBP long 22K vs 29K long last week. Longs trimmed by 7K
  • JPY short 53K vs 39K short last week. Shorts increased by 14K
  • CHF long 3K vs 5K long last week. Longs trimmed by 2K
  • AUD long 6K vs 8K long last week. Longs trimmed by 2K
  • NZD long 5K vs 6K long last week. Longs trimmed by 1 K
  • CAD long 5K vs 10K long last week. Longs trimmed by 5K
  • Last week’s report

Highlights:

  • The JPY shorts increased by 14K after a big shift to shorts last week. The JPY is the only short position (dollar long position). PS. the JPY moved to the lowest level since June 2020 today (the USDJPY reached the highest level since then).
  • The other currency long positions in the currencies were trimmed with the exception of the EUR (which increased by 3K).
  • The CHF, AUD, NZD and CAD net positions are within 6K of square.
  • The EUR longs remains the biggest speculative position (longs increased by 3K), but is well off the high. The largest long position was 165K in January. The all time largest long position was in August 2020 at 212M.
For the year to date:
  • Dow industrial average +8.06%
  • S&P index +5.82%
  • Nasdaq +1.94%
With the Dow leading in 2021, what Dow stocks are leading?  The top 10 Dow stocks in 2021 are:
The top 10 dow stocks in 2021