Today’s market performance was a signal day rather than noise. All the major indices — Dow Jones, Nasdaq, S&P 500 — opened the trading day in the green and continued climbing before taking a proper reversal and ending the trading session in negative territory.

So what happened? Tension is what happened.

Recall support and resistance lines, and each time the market buttresses up to either line, tension begins to form. This tension is a sign of the market wanting more information so that it explodes to the upside or falls to its death (a bit dramatic!).

What information awaits the market? Two major events are occurring within the next seven days. On Friday, the unemployment rate for November will be released. Analysts project a 3.9% rate, which would hold steady from October. If the unemployment rate prints 3.7% or lower, expect a downturn in the market. If the rate creeps up to 4.1% or higher, expect a market move to the upside.

Then, on Wednesday, December 13, in the final announcement of 2023, the US Central Bank is expected to announce what will happen to interest rates. Analysts are expecting the rate to hold at 5.5%.

Quite frankly, the announcement carries lots of mystery. If the sentiment of the central bankers remains hawkish so that they will keep their foot on the gas pedal to higher rates, we will definitely dive into the deep end. If sentiment is interpreted as dovish, where central bankers are prepared to put their foot on the brakes of interest rate hikes, then off to the moon we go.

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