The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined during its recent trading at the intraday levels, to record losses in its last sessions, by -0.49%. It lost the index by -166.15 points, to settle at the end of trading at the level of 33,892.60, after rising by 2.51% in trading on Friday. The index fell during February by 3.5%, recording the largest drop in a single month and percentage since November.
Markets digested the latest sanctions against Moscow after Russian President Vladimir Putin raised Russia's nuclear alert level on Sunday in an intensified attack on Ukraine.
Markets were unstable again on Monday, as efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine ended without an agreement, although negotiators made some progress. Meanwhile, Russia intensified its attack with bombings that killed at least 10 civilians.
The US trade deficit jumped 7.1% in January to $107.6 billion, hitting a new all-time high for the second consecutive month. The February reading of the Chicago PMI fell to 56.3 from 65.2.
Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Rafael Bostic said he does not rule out a half-percentage point increase by the Federal Reserve at its March 15-16 policy meeting due to inflationary pressures, according to Reuters. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will testify before a House committee on Wednesday and the Senate on Thursday.
Technically, the index’s decline came as we expected it yesterday, as a result of the stability of the main resistance level 34,000. That was affected by the exit from the range of an ascending price channel that had limited its trading earlier in the short term, as shown in the attached chart for a (daily) period, with continued pressure. The negative trend is for its trading below the simple moving average for the previous 50 days.
In its recent trading, the index tried to drain some of its obvious oversold rate with the relative strength indicators, especially with the start of the influx of positive signals on the relative strength indicators, which might curb the index's upcoming losses.
Therefore, our expectations indicate a further decline for the index during its upcoming trading, as long as the resistance level 34,000 remains intact, to target the first support levels at 33,271.93.
