The Market Brief
Hey team. US equity futures remained muted in this pre-holiday shortened session as the market anticipates light volumes and an early close.
This is a brief recap of yesterday’s session, and we’d like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!
Impact Snapshot
Stock markets will shut at 1:00 p.m. ET Today
Markets will be closed for Christmas on Wednesday.
Macro Viewpoint
U.S. stock index futures are muted ahead of Tuesday's shortened trading session, as Wall Street moves into a typically strong seasonal period, poised to close its second consecutive year of growth.
The S&P 500 is on track for an impressive annual performance, marking two consecutive years of gains exceeding 20%. Since the end of 2023, the index has climbed approximately 25%.
No major catalysts are expected to drive market sentiment this week, with trading volumes expected to be light in the final days of the year, increasing the likelihood of some choppy trading.
Stock markets will shut at 1:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday and will be closed for Christmas on Wednesday.
Prior Session Deep Dive
We always emphasise that understanding the environment you’re trading in is the best safeguard against exposing yourself to unnecessary risk.
As anticipated yesterday, the combination of low volume, lack of catalysts, and an upcoming holiday led the market to seek the formation of a short-term balance.
We’ve discussed single prints and how the market, more often than not, tends to revisit these areas to fill them in.
The initial reaction during the U.S. open on Monday did just that, with the price pulling back toward the first downside support and filling some of the single prints left during Friday’s session.
The market saw a bounce shortly after, reclaiming the upside references, with the absolute session top reaching the first upside level of 6040, where the market completely stalled to end the session.
As a result, the entire session remained within Friday’s range, forming overlapping value areas.
This is the market’s way of signaling that it is awaiting additional information in the form of catalysts before initiating its next trend.
