FYI: Even after taking into account Friday's weakness, it was mostly a positive week for the US last week as all of the major index ETFs with the exception of the Dow Jones (DIA) were up. As shown in the snapshot from our Trend Analyzer tool, outside of the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ), every major US index ETF is kicking off the week in neutral territory. Not a terribly exciting backdrop but it's one you would expect in an environment where equities have been stuck in a seemingly never-ending range.
Just about every major US index ETF is stuck in neutral, but sector performance has varied a bit more. Last week, Energy (XLE), Technology (XLK), Consumer Staples (XLP), and Utilities (XLU) were all down, while Health Care (XLV) rallied more than 2%. In most cases, the performance of individual sectors last week involved some reversion as Health Care has been one of the weaker sectors YTD and Technology, Consumer Staples, and Utilities have been leaders. In the case of Energy, though, it has just been a continuation of the weak trend. Coming into this week, Energy is the only sector below its 50-day moving average and to make matters worse, its timing score in our Trend Analyzer tool is 'Poor'. With crude oil prices trading down nearly one percent again this morning, the sector still faces a pretty stiff headwind. While the major averages are stuck in a range, Energy has been in a seemingly never-ending downtrend.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.bespokepremium.com/interactive/posts/think-big-blog/stuck-in-neutral
