Witchy Market…
The final leg of triple witching, with options expiration today, made for a volatile morning.
Currently, we’re at 1168, and in the late morning the market appears to be quieting down.
This morning, we opened between 1179.50 and 1181 and made a high of 1183. But failing to make any progress over that level, we expected to test the downside.
We went through contract lows at 1165.50 to make a low of 1160.50.
Right now, we see resistance at 1174. We have a crucial level around 1178.50. We have to get above that level for the downside pressure to subside. If we do, we could see a rally.
Overall, keep in mind that this is a particularly “whippy” market, given options expiration and the pre-Fed meeting hype.
In the mid-morning, NASDAQ went limit bid at 1650, and then saw a small bounce. We’d be careful getting short at this level.
Earlier, we saw significant institutional selling to retest session lows. The Semiconductor Index has been under heavy pressure and, once again, served as a good proxy for the overall NASDAQ.