Slow drift up yesterday and it felt like the prospect of the 41 point dividend was the only thing underpinning the rise. It certainly came to a halt as Donald Trump ratcheted up the rhetoric about North Korea as tensions escalated yesterday afternoon. That rattled markets at the time, saw gold rise having dipped as low as 1252 prior to that, and the reverberations carry though Asian markets today.
All things considered I imagine that a war in the region will be avoided at all costs as if it starts where will it end? With stock markets in Asia and the US at record highs it was a good excuse to bank some profits too, and the S&P500 hit the top of the 10 day channel yesterday at 2490 as well.
Today's main news for the FTSE 100 is of course the 41 point dividend and bear this in mind for later as it will affect open positions (on daily cash). Some information here on how it affects positions. We may well see the divi hunters start to appear around 15:00 BST this afternoon and pull prices up - this divi is one of the largest ones. We might even mange to hit the 7580 level today if its really chased and can shake off the NK tensions.
FTSE 100 outlook and prediction
After the relative calm of Monday and Tuesday we might well see a bit more volatility today, mainly driven by North Korea tensions and the 41 point dividend. The 7550 area remains as initial resistance with 7580 above that. I don't see it getting too much past the 7580 level today, especially as we have the top of the 20 day Raff at 7585.
We have support initially at the 7503 area with 7490 below that. If that should break then there is a decent fib support at 7472 and S2 at 7475 - though with the 7500 level holding overnight I can see us being slightly bullish today.
The dividend is applied by different platforms at different times - some at 16:30 some at 21:00, so just bear it in mind as it will apply to any open daily cash bets that you have open.
If the bulls were to push past the 7600 level then we are looking at a rise towards 7680, however, if the bears do appear at 7600 or just below again, then we could be on for a steady decline over the next few weeks.
For today then, cautiously long to target 7550 and 7580 areas, and watching 7490 and 7470 as support areas.
