On The Fly: Weekly technical notes for Russell 2000

The Russell 2000 (RUT) was the standout for the week among major indexes, pushing upward to a new life high. That level at 1425.70 proved short-lived, with the index set to end the week near the 1400 level. It may be that this is a test of the sustainability of this 1400 area as support before traders are willing to push higher. The new life high becomes the level to beat this coming week. Unlike the S&P 500, there is still a considerable amount of earnings news ahead for the index components. Breadth in sector terms was solid and much better than in the S&P 500. The best-performers in descending order were Health Care, Industrials, Basic Materials, Telecommunications Services, Consumer Cyclicals, Utilities, Financials, Consumer Staples, and Energy. All sectors finished on the plus side for the week.