Rocky day ends positive for equities
Major equity indexes gained ground yesterday but finished well off their best levels of the morning.
The S&P 500 rose 6.80 points to 1639.77. It had jumped above 1650 at the open before giving up essentially all of those gains by early afternoon. The run with an hour left to trade took the index off the day's lows. It has resistance at 1670 and support at 1600.
The Nasdaq 100 followed a similar pattern, running above 3110 before ending the day up 17.95 points to 3091.76. It has resistance at 3149 and support at 3030.
The Russell 2000 climbed 5.37 points to cloes at 1016.26. Like the SPX, the small-cap index remains below its 10- and 20-day moving averages. It has resistance at 1055 and support at 1000.
The CBOE Volatility Index was down 0.40 points, or 2.35 percent, to 16.61. The VIX had climbed back above 17 just after noon and stayed there until the final hour of trade. The implied volatility index remains higher than the SPX's actual volatility, which has a 20-day reading below 10 percent.
The VIX futures were down more, in percentage terms. The September futures lost 0.65 points to finish at 16.85. There is very little premium in that contract above the spot VIX compared to what we have seen of late. The October futures were down 0.50 points to 17.65. That had the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Note (:VXX) down 3.7 percent to $16.41.
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