Markets Continue to Climb Walls of Worry as S&P 500 and Nasdaq Hit New Highs

Technical Stock Market Briefing for Day & Swing Traders
| By Harry Boxer, Technical Market Analyst

Markets Continue to Climb Walls of Worry

It was a volatile, news-driven week, but the S&P 500 nevertheless managed to push higher, with the index moving up by around 1%. The S&P 500 and technology-heavy Nasdaq made fresh all-time highs. Both indices are now up about 7% to 8% this year so far. The S&P 500 index is now up over 26% since the April 8 lows.

Market technicals, including advance/declines and up/down volume ratios, are still mostly confirming the trend, but we are now starting to see some non-confirmations among the indices and other divergences elsewhere. Those will have to be watched closely for clues as to a possible impending market top.

Sector Standouts and Broader Sentiment

Among the sector groups, non-energy minerals, consumer durables, and electronic technology were the strongest-performing sectors during the week, while health services, energy minerals, and health technology lagged.

Overall, despite the uncertainty that began earlier this year, markets have been able to climb several walls of worry, supported by solid economic fundamentals. We may see caution and bouts of volatility as investors digest a new set of tariff updates in August and head toward the seasonally choppy September timeframe.

Overall, stock markets appear to have overcome the peak fear and uncertainty that emerged in early April around the threat of sharply rising tariffs. Since then, we have seen tariff increases get delayed and inflation and economic data remain resilient.

Crypto, Commodities & Looking Ahead

Crypto had another strong week, with bitcoin briefly touching $123,000. Altcoins joined the rally as well. Ethereum surged over 20% on the week, trading just shy of $3,500. On Friday, the stablecoin-focused GENIUS Act was signed into law.

Oil prices pulled back during the first half of the week, driven in part by uncertainty regarding potential new tariffs. Rising U.S. fuel inventory builds also contributed to the downward pressure on price. However, prices bounced Thursday on renewed tensions in the Middle East.

Gold prices experienced another relatively quiet week, mostly trading within its prior week’s range. Prices fell following the release of positive economic data.

As we look ahead, we would not expect markets to continue to move in a straight line higher, especially as we head toward the seasonally choppy months of August and September. Markets will also have to digest additional tariff headlines as the August 1 deadline approaches.

In any case, as usual, we at thetechtrader.com will always be “Trading What We See, Not What We Think”!

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