Why isn’t the S&P 500 Index (^SPX) falling? The market is effectively shrugging off bad news, which is often a sign that underlying demand — likely driven by institutional flows into tech — is still doing the heavy lifting, observes Fawad Razaqzada, technical analyst at TradingCandles.
The AI trade remains strong, and earnings are growing in the sector. But strip out the tech sector — particularly anything linked to AI — and the macro picture doesn’t look especially friendly for equities. Higher yields, sticky inflation risks, and geopolitical uncertainty would normally weigh heavily on sentiment.
Yet the S&P 500 isn’t cracking. That resilience makes it difficult to argue for a bearish view right now. From a technical standpoint, the trend is still firmly intact — higher highs, higher lows, and moving averages all pointing upwards.
What has changed is the short-term price behavior. Instead of extending the rally, the index has slipped into a period of consolidation, struggling to break convincingly into fresh record territory.
On the downside, 7,043 stands out as the first meaningful level to watch — the previous breakout point. Just beneath that sits the 7,000 mark, which carries obvious psychological weight.
On the upside, we’re dealing with thinner air. The 7,200 level is the first hurdle, followed by the recent high around 7,223. Beyond that, it’s largely extension territory, with 7,230 and then 7,469 coming into view from a Fibonacci perspective.
