Wall Street staged quite a comeback yesterday as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq reversed heavy losses with the former even closing in positive territory on the day. It wasn't much (+0.3%) but at this point, investors will take what they can get. The rebound also comes as the index neared a test of its 61.8 Fib retracement level at 3,901 yesterday:
But as much as the bounce was encouraging, it may not prove to be enough after four days of sharp declines. The US jobs report today will be crucial in deciding what comes next and it will be a case of when bad news is good news.
A softer set of numbers will provide a much needed relief for equities, in the sense that it may tone down the Fed's aggressiveness. However, that may all just prove to be a short-term respite as markets will still have to focus on the US CPI data on 13 September to really get a sense of what the Fed's next move will be.
For now, policymakers are maintaining a more aggressive approach but we'll see if they will dial back on that in the weeks to come. But I would wager that as unlikely before we get to the inflation numbers, so even if stocks may find reason to march higher ahead of the long weekend, it may not be a move that would hold for long.
