NordenBladet – The S&P 500 has been experiencing a corrective phase as it enters a downtrend on its weekly chart. After a strong move in January, the S&P 500 has entered a bearish environment, and it is uncertain how much of the gain from January will be lost. Every significant increase in 2022 has been given back, which has many bulls worried.

Market sentiment was wildly bullish the previous week, which is a good contrarian indicator, and if the January lows are taken out, the bulls will have reason to be concerned. The Moving average convergence/divergence (MACD or MAC-D) is starting to roll over on the longer time frame, and the price action could be back in the channel created by the bottom pane of the Ulcer Index (UI).

On the economic front, there are renewed questions about the speed of the global economy and persistent inflation. February’s findings for manufacturing and services economies reported by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) will be released and will be weighed against the final S&P Global February Purchasing Managers’ (PMI) data for Japan, China, the eurozone, and the U.S. Should the data point to the Fed having to do more to knock back inflation, the debate over the market’s valuation multiple is likely to continue.

This week is also packed with quarterly earnings from major retailers such as Target, Abercrombie & Fitch, Lowe’s, Kohl’s, Kroger, and Costco. Investors will be focused on excess inventory levels and margins as well as additional thoughts on the shape of the consumer. Investors will also be looking at what Salesforce sees for corporate spending and the dollar-related headwinds given the greenback’s February rebound.

The week is also full of investor conferences, including Deutsche Bank’s, Chevron’s, and Goldman Sachs’. On March 1, Tesla will host its investor event, which could have ramifications across the larger EV space. Finally, data privacy continues to be a key issue in 2023, and a new report from cybersecurity company Imperva found that 75% of stolen data is personal data, which offers the most long-term value to hackers.

The S&P 500 has entered a corrective phase, and it is uncertain how much of the gains from January will be lost. Economic data and earnings releases this week will impact the market’s valuation, and investor conferences will give insights into various sectors. Data privacy continues to be a significant concern for the future.

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