08:35am   Back home after a short break, I shall be mainly here in the study today catching up on emails and doing some chart watching. Any trades I have will be detailed below.

Market Update:

Thursday’s market close saw U.S. equities ended mainly up although the bullish strength does seem to be waning slightly, the S&P-500 closed up 1.32 points at 2388.77 during a very narrow trading range yesterday and it is struggling to get back upto the strong resistance level at 2400. The tech-centred Nasdaq index faired better and closes at another record level ahead of a brace of major technology company earnings reports.  This optimism did not really spill over to the overnight Asian session where we witnessed Japanese and Chinese indices finished flat to negative amid South Korean/Chinese concerns over U.S. policy in the region although the Australian ASX-200 closed up slightly (+3 points).

Gold closed slightly down yesterday and is currently sitting on a fairly strong support/resistance line which is suggesting a small up move from this point – it is currently at $1265.40 and we could see a rise to the $1290 level and it is on track for the biggest one-week fall this year. I will send out a chart illustrating the support/resistance line to subscribers this morning, email me if you want one as well.

Crude oil has had a fairly ‘bumpy’ ride this month and U.S. WTI Crude is set to finish April below the $50 level – the price-action on the weekly & monthly charts are suggesting some further down moves even though there is traditionally higher demand in the U.S. as the summer season grows closer so stocks should fall. The U.S. benchmark is currently at $49:41 with further falls looking likely before the close of the month’s trading tonight.

Trading Diary:

10:10am    Nothing much to see on my collection of favourite charts so I am off for a cycle ride with some neighbours.

12:40pm    I have just got into a ‘long’ position on my U.S. WTI Crude Oil chart, it’s a Master-The-Trend Strategy-B set-up with a 15 pip stop loss.

13:40pm    The WTI price is becoming more volatile as Friday’s U.S. trading session gets underway so I have come out of my position with a +20 pip profit.

14:00pm   The markets are still fairly skittish and fluctuating wildly and with today’s score bringing my monthly total to +415 pips I have decided to finish my chart watching for the day (and month)

I will be back in front of my screens next Tuesday after the Bank Holiday weekend break.