S&P Chart Watchers Hypnotized by 200-Day Moving Average
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With no earnings or economic data to guide them, traders are focusing on charts of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, and what they’re seeing isn’t promising.
Stocks fell below a level today that since November 2012 has stood as a floor during selloffs, the S&P 500’s mean price since late-December, also known as the 200-day moving average. Pushed down by a three-week drop that erased $1.5 trillion, the benchmark gauge extended losses, closing down 1.7 percent to 1,874.74, about 1.6 percent below the level monitored by chart analysts.