On The Fly: Weekly technical notes for S&P 500

It was another in a string of weeks now where not much appears to be happening with the S&P 500 (SPX). We've seen weekly sector rotation that is within ranges and essentially a wash as far as the index goes. An exemplar of this behavior is the decline of the Financials (XLF) with the inverse rise in Energy (XLE), which have offset one another during the past week. While it may be easier to simply dismiss the inaction as unimportant, there has been some change, which is now more evident on a monthly time frame. The familiar ranges noted in the past such as 2130 to 2170 need to be updated. Looking at a daily chart for the past month on a closing price basis shows the range has shifted upward to 2140 to 2180. While that may not seem important in the daily grind, it does show a slightly more bullish bias than was previously the case. At end of week price has now hit the near midpoint of that range and 2160 has become something of a magnet level for price as a result. Breaks below 2140 now should be watched as should breakouts above 2180. These are more likely to be the trigger levels for bearish and bullish action respectively. There is one more week of quiet period before Q3 earnings. It would seem both bulls and bears are willing to keep the index in range ahead of news. That is barring a major exogenous event, which sometimes have a way of popping up in such quiet periods.