Google Under Selling Pressure: A Technical Look

Joel Elconin is the co-host of Benzinga's #PreMarket Prep, a daily trading idea radio show.

Google Inc GOOG shares were trading lower by $10.80 at $544.71 in Friday's session. With no relevant news to mention, the selloff may be purely technical stemming from $90.00 rally off its January 12 low ($487.56).

Much of the rally has taken place despite a Q4 miss that was reported on January 29. After closing on January 29 at $510.66, it leaped to $534.52 the following session.

The rally continued until early March when it hit a trio of highs at the $577.00 level, peaking on March 5 at $577.91 with its highest close at $575.33 since October 6, when it ended the session at $577.35.

During the rally, two Wall Street firms raised price targets on this issue. On March 6, Citigroup maintained its Buy rating and raised its price target from $629.00 to $682.00. On March 2, Bank of America upgraded the issue from Neutral to Buy and bumped its price target from $580.00 to $650.00.

So far, Google has reached its lowest level of the decline, reaching $544.43 and is trading right at that level. If the decline continues there may be support at its February 26 low ($541.50).