Equity indexes ended a down week with a down day as the CBOE Volatility Index climbed back above 13.
The S&P 500 lost 6.06 points to close Friday at 1691.42. It finished in the middle of the day's range as it had gains briefly after the bell before slipping as low as 1686.02. It has resistance at 1709 and support at 1670.
The Nasdaq 100 slipped 11.55 points to finish at 3118.57. The NDX remained above its 10-day moving average and not far from Monday's high. IT has resistance at that high of 3145 and support at 3030.
The Russell 2000 fell a little more than 1 point to end the week at 1048.40. It is below its 10- and 20-day moving averages, but just barely. It has resistance at its Monday high of 1063 and support at 1020.
The VIX was up 0.68 points, or 5.34 percent, to 13.41. The volatility index climbed in the last two hours and finished not far off its midday high. That is a bit surprising, given that the VIX is usually lower on Fridays to account for weekend time decay .
The VIX futures were also higher. The August contracts were up 0.30 points to close at 13.55, and the September futures were surprisingly up more, gaining 0.35 points to finish at 15.20. That had the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Note (:VXX) up 1.32 percent to $14.60.
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