NASDAQ Enters Bull Market as S&P 500 Gains 5%; Gold Cools Off

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

Stocks Rebound Strongly

The S&P 500 finished the week up more than 5% as the major U.S. indexes rebounded sharply from the previous week’s fractional declines. The latest results marked the fourth positive week out of the past six as stocks continued to regain their footing following the sharp declines recorded in late February to early April.

Overall, consumer durables, electronic technology, and transportation were the strongest performing sectors during the week, while health services, non-energy minerals, and communications lagged. Crude oil popped early in the week as recession fears cooled, but pulled back in the latter half on news of a possible US-Iran nuclear deal.

Gold Cools, Crypto Holds Strong

The price of gold fell for the third week out of the past four, marking a pause in a year-to-date rally that pushed the precious metal to a record high in April. Gold was trading around $3,200 per ounce on Friday afternoon, down nearly 5% for the week and well below its record of more than $3,400 set less than four weeks earlier. Gold cooled off this week, falling 3.9% as investors shifted their focus to equities and other risk assets, while crypto held its big push higher from the previous week.

NASDAQ Enters Bull Market

News on trade policies remained a key driver for markets this past week, with positive developments in the relation between the U.S. and China and in trade within the tech sector helping boost stock markets, placing the S&P 500 back into positive territory in 2025.

The NASDAQ has generated more volatile results than other major U.S. indexes in recent months, and on Monday it entered a bull market just six weeks after sinking into a short-lived bear market. The index’s 4% gain on Monday pushed it more than 20% above a recent low on April 8. On Friday, the NASDAQ closed less than 5% below its record high set on December 16, 2024.

An index that measures investors’ expectations of short-term U.S. stock market volatility fell for the seventh week in a row to roughly its year-end 2024 level. The Cboe Volatility Index closed on Friday down about 67% from a recent closing high reached on April 8, when uncertainty about tariffs sent the index sharply higher.

With the indices poised at KEY short-term resistance and with an overbought condition existing currently, I am looking for some sort of retest/retracement to occur to fortify the indices’ patterns technically. That implies a pullback this coming week may be in store!

We’ll soon see, but in any case, we at thetechtrader.com will always “Trade What We See Technically, Not What We Think.”

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