The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell in its recent trading on the intraday levels, recording losses in its last sessions by -0.38%. It lost about -127.93 points, to settle in trading at the level of 33,926.02 after the index fell in Thursday’s trading by -0.11%. Last week, the index recorded a slight loss of -0.15%.
The index losses came after a closely watched employment report from the Labor Department showed US employers hired more workers than expected in January. Hardline for longer than people had hoped.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 517k, well above the estimate of 185k, while the unemployment rate fell to 3.4%. This was its lowest level since 1969, while average hourly earnings increased by 0.3%, in line with expectations.
In another round of upbeat economic data, the Institute for Supply Management said Friday that its services index rebounded to 55.2% in January after falling into contraction territory at the end of last year. Numbers above 50% indicate expansion in the economy.
Traders, meanwhile, digested disappointing fourth-quarter earnings results from the tech giants from Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet and Apple Inc.
Dow Jones Technical Analysis
Technically, the index retreated in its recent trades, following the stability of the pivotal and stubborn 34,281.36 resistance level. It tried again to gain positive momentum that might help it breach that resistance in the future, considering its trading along a minor and bullish corrective trend line in the short term, as shown in the attached chart for a period of time (daily), supported by its continuous trading above its simple moving average for the previous 50-day period. In addition to that, we notice the presence of positive signals with the relative strength indicators.
Therefore, our expectations remain the same, suggesting a scenario for the index to rise again during its upcoming trading, with an important condition that it first breaches that 34,281.36 stubborn resistance. It assured us of its intention to continue the corrective rise in the short term, to then target the first resistance level at 35,361.36.
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