Directional Bias For The Day:

• The futures are flat
• Moving sideways since Friday’s close
• Odds are for a sideways to down day; watch for break above 2366.75 and below 2356.00 for change of fortunes
• On Friday, S&P 500 made a near gravestone doji candlestick pattern; a break below its low will be critical
• Key economic data: ISM Manufacturing (estimate is 57.2) and construction spending (est. 1.00%) at 10:00 AM

Markets Around The World

• Markets in the East were mostly higher – Shanghai was closed
• European markets are mixed – Germany, U.K. and Switzerland are up; France, Spain, Italy and STOXX 600 are down
• Dollar index and EUR/USD are higher; USD/JPY and GBP/USD are lower;
• Commodities are mostly down – crude oil is up and NatGas is unchanged; gold, silver and copper are lower
• 10-yrs yield is at 2.386% down from March 31 close of 2.396%; 30-years is at 3.020% up from 3.018%

Key Levels:

• Critical support levels for S&P 500 are 2362.62, 2357.27 and 2352.14
• Critical resistance levels for S&P 500 are 2370.42, 2381.93 and 2385.71
• Key levels for eMini futures: break above 2366.75, high of 1:30 PM on March 31 and break below 2356.00, the low of 8:00 PM on April 2

Pre-Open

• Pre-NYSE session open, futures price action is almost unchanged – at 9:00 AM, S&P 500 futures were up by +0.25, Dow is up by +12.00, NASDAQ is up by +5.00
• On Friday, at 4:00 PM, S&P future (June contract) closed at 2358.50 and the index closed at 2362.72 – a spread of about +4.25 points; futures closed at 2359.25 for the day; the fair value is -0.75

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 24, was a  large green candle that made a piercing pattern closing higher than the mid-point of previous week’s bearish engulfing, which had broken below the four-week lows An up week – eight in last ten weeks Broke above a down-sloping flag on November 14, 2016; first target of 2285.92 and second target of 2363.14 are achieved Last swing low, 2083.79, was the low on November 4, 2016 Above 39-week SMA and 89-week SMA
Daily	A near gravestone doji with very small upper shadow and no lower shadow Break below Thursday’s low of 2358.58 will be critical Broke a sequence of higher highs and higher lows on March 21; broke below an uptrend line since November lows Uptrend under pressure; break above March 16 high of 2388.10 is critical for uptrend Broke below a descending triangle on March 21; target near 2308.00 still active;  rise above 2381.93 will nullify it Move above an up-sloping channel since December 27 still relevant Above 100-day, 200-day and 50-day SMA/EMA; above 20-day EMA Last swing low 2263.62
2-Hour (e-mini future)	Facing resistance – prior support – at 2365.50; made two touches to 2366.75 – 10:00 AM on march 30 and 12:00 PM on March 31 – a break below 2356.00 will complete the pattern with 100% extension target near 2346.00 Broke above a double top – at 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM on March 29 – On march 30 but did not reached 61.8% of the target; Uptrend broken; sequence of lower highs and lower lows with one exception Above rising 50-bar EMA; at flattening 20-bar EMA
30-Minute (e-mini future)	Drifting sideways since Friday close – bounded between 2356.00 and 2363.25 Down trend since 3:30 AM on March 16; sequence of lower lows and lower highs broken; within this downtrend – an uptrend from the lows of 2318.00 at 9:30 AM on March 27 At flattening 50-bar EMA and 20-bar EMA

Previous Session

Major U.S. indices closed mostly lower on Friday March 31. Russell 2000 was the only one to advance. For the week major indices were up.