US indexes close the week with gains, post a second consecutive monthly decline
- Wall Street posts its largest quarterly decline in over nine years.
- DJIA closed up 2.5% for the week, but 2,600 points below January's high.
After early week jitters triggered by risk sentiment, US indexes managed to advance strongly this Friday, to close the week with solid gains, but ending the quarter in the red, The DJIA closed the day at 24,159.98, up 1.31% or 311 points, accumulating a weekly advance of 2.5%. The Nasdaq Composite added this Thursday 114 points, to settle at 7,063.44, while the S&P ended at 2,641.74, up daily basis 1.41%. Equities' recovery was backed by a rebound in tech-related shares, after being under pressure for most of the week over the scandal surrounding Facebook data-leak.
US markets will remain closed this Friday amid the Easter Holiday but will resume activity next Monday. Most European markets, however, will remain close until Tuesday, in observance of the Easter Monday.
Technical Outlook
Despite booking a weekly gain, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is over 2,600 points below its record high posted early January, the largest quarterly downward correction ever since the index begun rallying nearly nine years ago, a major warning for bulls. Daily basis, the index managed to close above its 200 DMA, but well below the 100 DMA and a bearish 20 DMA, while technical indicators have bounced from oversold readings, but remain far into negative territory, reflecting the decrease of buying interest. The weekly peak at24,447 is a key resistance for next week, while a major support is located at around 23,750, where the index stalled multiple times over the past few weeks.