Decision time in the FTSE 100 charts

The FTSE 100 index has hit a solid line of support in the charts. Will it hold? John C Burford takes a closer look.

Later today, the Fed issues its monthly missive to the world, and most analysts will be poring over the runes for hints as to where interest rates are going. Previous announcements have been pretty tame affairs with no real surprises. But the day is approaching when the markets will get the news they are dreading rates are going up.

Of course, all sane people know that will happen at some point. Short-term rates have been stuck to the floor for several years now. But US economic data has been far from robust and seems to be getting weaker by the month. Just yesterday, Durable Goods, PMI Services Flash, Consumer Confidence and the Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index all came in under expectations (which were modest anyway). The trend of the past few months has been weakening economic growth.

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John is is a British-born lapsed PhD physicist, who previously worked for Nasa on the Mars exploration team. He is a former commodity trading advisor with the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission, and worked in a boutique futures house in California in the 1980s.

 

He was a partner in one of the first futures newsletter advisory services, based in Washington DC, specialising in pork bellies and currencies. John is primarily a chart-reading trader, having cut his trading teeth in the days before PCs.

 

As well as his work in the financial world, he has launched, run and sold several 'real' businesses producing 'real' products.