S&P 500 Extends Best Weekly Winning, Futures Edge Up 0.1%

US stock futures made small downward movements on Monday as they mirrored a successful week of major market gains. Notably, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 29 points, while both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures declined by 0.2% and 0.4%, respectively. This was in the wake of the Dow and S&P 500 both marking their sixth weekly gains that together account for the longest doing so for both indexes in 2024. On Friday, the S&P 500 closed 0.85% higher last week, while the Dow appreciated by 0.96% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.80%.

Earnings Season Heats Up: Can Results Fuel Further Gains?

The future of the US stock market to the next steps up will be in the hands of the companies that release their earnings reports. In the coming week, as third-quarter earnings season continues, approximately 20% of S&P 500 companies will report their financial results. The first results have been positive—79% of companies exceeded the anticipated numbers—analysts nevertheless suggest that the earnings surprises have been smaller than expected and have been a dampener to the bulls.

Investors are expecting to see whether the next group of companies can come up with more exciting results as the prices of the stocks are higher than the expected values. Even though it is at a historical valuation level, the broad market of US equities may be at an all-time high with the next quarterly earnings releases.

The latest market trend has resulted in a positive attitude, but a certain level of scepticism remains with some people. More cautiousness is being spread by issues such as excessively high valuations, geopolitical risks, and the upcoming US presidential election. There would be some more frequency in the market as long as a huge part of the S&P 500 index is to be published this week. Because investors have to interpret the earnings news and question whether the market run-up can keep pace with it, the market can be all the more dramatic.

S&P 500 Chart Analysis

S&P 500 15-Minute Chart

Based on the S&P 500 chart, the index has been highly unstable in recent sessions. Following a peak of 5,878.46 on October 13, the market dropped dramatically to 5,764.76 by October 16. Nevertheless, buyers showed up, pulling back the index higher above the 5,860 level by the end of the week, which illustrated a continuous struggle between optimistic and bearish emotions.

We’ve observed that each ascent beyond the 5,870 resistance level has been hindered by selling pressure. Thus, the investors seem to be still wary. Nonetheless, the index has been showing positive behaviour around the 5,840 level, where it has been in strong support for a while now. The price action’s confinement within this narrow range indicates traders’ indecision, as they likely need additional indicators from the upcoming earnings reports.

Expectation: Range-Bound Trading Ahead

In the upcoming period, we are looking for the S&P 500 to stay within this area. The resistance level is 5,878, and the support is around 5,840. Nevertheless, we will not get any bullish signals to move the index far from this narrow range unless a strong event comes from earnings or macroeconomic data. Should the developments go beyond forecasts on the side of the company’s latest results, then another buying wave may push the prices past 5,878 levels with a possible window for setting a new cycle high.

There is a lot of uncertainty that looms in the future, and this will include geopolitical concerns. As a result, we anticipate that the market will be a bit choppy in the upcoming days while the investors will swallow the new facts.

Right now is the period for being proactive. This would be the week that the earnings report does set off the spark, so focusing on the action is the measure that can let us stay close to the next move!

IAMGOLD Corporation (IAG) Stock Chart Analysis

IAG/USD 15-Minute Chart

When looking at Iamgold Corporation (NYSE: IAG), we have observed an enormous growth in the stock price over the last few days. Between October 11 and October 17, the stock price was close to $4.80 and $5.20 and remained mostly constant. However, we observed that starting from October 18, there was a wild rally as the stock price jumped from $5.20 to over $5.80 and thus closing near $5.99. This is almost a 15 per cent gain in a very short time period, which is a potential breakout moment for IAG.

Bullish factors may have fueled the surge, including long-awaited strong earnings and a favourable market situation for both gold and news that significantly impacts specific companies. The stock hovered around $5.96 in the week of October 20. This shows that the price may have been consolidating, as after the price surged, investors had some breather time to determine if the momentum would still be there.

Continuing to look closely at the significant levels, we come to the $5.60 range, which is quite a viable one. In addition to the $5.60 threshold, we may have another burst upwards if the share price can break through the $6.00 level. On the other hand, if the stock experiences some difficulty in staying above $5.90, then it will be a hint for a downward price correction.

We will be most interested in noting the volume of trading that could teach us whether the uptrend persists or slacks down because of taking profits!

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