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FTSE for Friday: something important happening to FTSE 100

3rd March 2023 07:48

by Alistair Strang from Trends and Targets

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The UK's premier index is outperforming its US rivals just now, and independent analyst Alistair Strang spots something promising. He analyses prospects for Wall Street too.

financial stock exchange market chart 600

“Expecting the unexpected” should be the official mantra for stock markets worldwide. At present, our inclination is to anticipate trouble from North America, the S&P 500 and Wall Street both giving early signs for potential problems. Balancing against this, the UK and Europe appear to be surprisingly strong, following their own trend rather than slavishly adhering to the USA.

Currently, the S&P 500 is trading around 3,980 points, needing above 4,300 points for us to suggest something along the lines of “we no longer thing it’s going to drop, just go long and you may pick up over 500 points along the way!”.

Unfortunately, from a chart viewpoint, it seems possible the market is also aware of the pickle it’s got itself into and is trying to avoid blindly heading into a zone where good times look very possible.

Instead, it’s now the case where below 3,700 points calculates with the potential of reversal to 3,300 points with secondary, if broken, at 2,958 points.  

sp020323.jpg

Source: Trends and Targets. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

FTSE for Friday

As mentioned earlier, the FTSE 100 appears surprisingly strong when compared against North America. Despite the last couple of weeks proving as decisive as myself when viewing a takeaway menu (before opting for my usual), there is something fairly important which can be spotted with market movements.

As the two insets below show, for some reason the immediate Red uptrend since October last year has been deemed inviolate, the market refusing to allow the FTSE to close below the trend. It makes us suspect we’ve been witnessing a slowdown, rather than warning of potential FTSE reversals.

The immediate situation therefore appears quite promising as above 7,955 points should now make an attempt at an initial 7,989 points. Our longer term secondary target calculates at 8,033 points. If this scenario triggers, visually the tightest stop appears to be at 7,900 points.

If things intend go a little wrong, below 7,878 could easily trigger reversal to an initial 7,858 with secondary, if broken, at 7,795 points and hopefully a rebound.

Have a good weekend.

ukx020323.jpg

Source: Trends and Targets. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

Alistair Strang has led high-profile and "top secret" software projects since the late 1970s and won the original John Logie Baird Award for inventors and innovators. After the financial crash, he wanted to know "how it worked" with a view to mimicking existing trading formulas and predicting what was coming next. His results speak for themselves as he continually refines the methodology.

Alistair Strang is a freelance contributor and not a direct employee of Interactive Investor. All correspondence is with Alistair Strang, who for these purposes is deemed a third-party supplier. Buying, selling and investing in shares is not without risk. Market and company movement will affect your performance and you may get back less than you invest. Neither Alistair Strang or Interactive Investor will be responsible for any losses that may be incurred as a result of following a trading idea. 

These articles are provided for information purposes only.  Occasionally, an opinion about whether to buy or sell a specific investment may be provided by third parties.  The content is not intended to be a personal recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument or product, or to adopt any investment strategy as it is not provided based on an assessment of your investing knowledge and experience, your financial situation or your investment objectives. The value of your investments, and the income derived from them, may go down as well as up. You may not get back all the money that you invest. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.

Full performance can be found on the company or index summary page on the interactive investor website. Simply click on the company's or index name highlighted in the article.

Related Categories

    UK sharesTechnical AnalysisTrading tips and ideasNorth America

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