Thursday's Market Minute: Russell Futures Diverging, But Still Range-Bound

Russell 2000 futures showed noticeable divergence from its other three equity index peers yesterday as the market opened, rising as the /ES, /NQ, and /YM fell sharply.

The small-caps also posted the best performance of the day yesterday, but are falling together with the others on better-than-expected Jobless Claims and the ADP Employment Report data. It can be worth noting things like this, as the small-cap index is perceived as more risky and can offer clues to the overall direction of the market.

Despite the recent fluctuations, the /RTY still remains in a fairly well-established range that began in mid-December between about 1,730-1,735 to the downside and about 1,795-1,800 to the upside. The contract also is still in the throes of a long downtrend that began in late December of 2021 and has shown little signs of interruption.

The Russell needs to push above both its 21-day and 63-day Exponential Moving Averages near 1,786 and 1,805 respectively, before bulls have a shot at escaping this range. The downside point is still 1,730, and beyond that the triple-bottom near the yearly lows between 1,640-1,650.