the 2024 market open gameplan

Happy New Year team!

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. We’re back in your inbox with another market brief with our levels to watch — fresh for 2024!

Let’s jump right into it…

Impact Snapshot

  • ISM Manufacturing PMI - Wednesday

  • JOLTS Job Openings - Wednesday

  • FOMC Meeting Minutes - Wednesday

  • ADP Non-Farm Employment Change- Thursday

  • Unemployment Claims - Thursday

  • Non-Farm Payrolls - Friday

  • Unemployment Rate - Friday

  • ISM Services PMI - Friday

Market Evaluation

Stocks finished 2023 near all-time highs with the S&P 500 gaining nearly 24% on the year.

The advance over the last two months marked a significant rebound from a three-month losing streak it suffered from August through October.

The turnaround came as economic data increasingly pointed to easing inflation rates, helping curb investors fears of another rate increase by the Federal Reserve's policy-setting committee.

The three major averages ripped higher in the final two months of 2023 after a pivot Fed has many investors increasingly betting that the central bank's next interest rate adjustment will bring rates lower.

Next week, the market is expected to see some volatility to start the year with some pretty significant economical reports.

ADP will release its employment report for the month on Wednesday, followed by the Labor Department's monthly Non-Farm payrolls and unemployment rate reports on Friday.

Markets Breakdown

On Friday, the market saw some change of tone in both volume and direction as the market edged lower on it’s final session of the year.

Check out a beautiful trade we’ve taken Here as well in the session as our key highlighted level of the bearish scenario acted as the bottom of for the day as well.

The tone of this market remains the same. We are still ranging inside a multi balance area and await catalysts for the next directional movement.

A recap overview of the last few months and this upside continuation can see two key areas. We’ve built a nice accumulation zone right now and right bellow is the next multi-day balance area which will be the key area for the downside.

The more time a market has spent in an area where more value is perceived, those are almost always areas where price will react or more importantly be pulled to.

Prices are always just going to be looking for the area where there is greater value so they reject areas of low value.

For instance that's why if there's a gap fill, it'll just zoom through the gap because the gap is a void of price action, there's no value there and it'll go to the next area of value.

That's the essence of what an efficient market does.

The first thing to monitor heading into the markets next week is remain inside the balance area or attempt to breakout with enough volume to support such movement

ES

Key points of reference we’ll be watching:

  • Upside Levels: 4814/4829/4843

  • Downside Levels: 4761/4736/4709

That’s all we got for you today.

We’ll see you Thursday!

-The QuantVue Team