Directional Bias For The Day:

• The futures are drifting higher;
• Moving, mostly, sideways since 10:30 AM on March 16 – between 2380.75 and 2373.50
• Odds are for a sideways day; watch for break above 2380.75 and below 2375.50 for change of fortunes
• Key economic report: Industrial Production and University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment

Markets Around The World

• Markets in the East closed mostly higher – Shanghai and Tokyo closed down
• European markets are mostly higher – Italy is lower
• Dollar index, USD/JPY, GBP/USD and EUR/USD are lower
• Commodities are higher
• 10-yrs yield closed at 2.522% on March 16 up from March 15 close of 2.508%; 30-years closed at 3.135% up from 3.106%

Key Levels:

• Critical support levels for S&P 500 are 2377.18, 2368.94 and 2358.18
• Critical resistance levels for S&P 500 are 2383.47, 2390.01 and 2400.91
• Key levels for eMini futures: break above 2380.75 high of 4:30 PM on March 15 and break below 2375.50, the low of 4:30 AM

Pre-Open

• Pre-NYSE session open, futures price action is to the upside – at 8:45 AM, S&P 500 futures were up by +1.00, Dow by +25.00 and NASDAQ by +6.75
• On Thursday, at 4:00 PM, S&P future (June contract) closed at 2377.75 and the index closed at 2381.38 – a spread of about +3.75 points; futures closed at 2379.00 for the day; the fair value is -1.25

The trend and patterns on various time frames for S&P 500 are:

Monthly	Confirmed Uptrend Uptrend resumption since Feb 08, 2016 after a pull back of -15.2%
Weekly:	Candlestick for the last week, Friday March 10, was a  red doji candle – small body, small upper shadow and slightly larger lower shadow Did not breach the high of previous week Broke a streak of six consecutive positive weeks Broke above a down-sloping flag on November 14, 2016; first target of 2285.92 is met; next target is near 2363.14 Last swing low, 2083.79, was the low on November 4, 2016 Above 39-week SMA and 89-week SMA
Daily	A small red-harami candle within a large green candle; small lower shadow and smaller upper shadow Still below the high of the flag pole Intraday range was 0.9%; less than 1.00% since December 29; Breaking out from an up-sloping channel that is in effect since December 27 Above 100-day, 200-day, 50-day, and 20-day SMA/EMA Sequence of higher highs and higher lows Last swing low 2263.62
2-Hour (e-mini future)	Generally drifting lower after the high made at 2:00 AM on March 16; Sideways move since 12:00 PM on March 16 Upswing since 10:00 AM on March 14 Uptrend is under pressure Above flat-to-rising 20-bar EMA and 50-bar EMA
30-Minute (e-mini future)	Sideways move since 10:30 AM on March 16; between high of 2380.75 and low of 2373.50 Up trend since 10:30 Am on March 14; higher highs and higher lows; Nearing 78.6% Fibonacci retracement level of the decline from 2401.00 on March 1 to the low of 2354.00 on March 9; the 61.8% retracement level is near 2382.25 Above rising 20-bar EMA and 50-bar EMA

Previous Session

U.S. indices closed mixed on Thursday March 16. S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Dow Jones Transportation Average declined. NASDAQ Composite and Russell 2000 gained.