S&P 500 VS ATH, how to break through?

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Technical objective achieved! The S&P 500 index has reached its all-time high, offering a bullish V-shaped recovery since the bearish shock of early April against the backdrop of the trade war between the USA and its main trading partners.

In our previous TradingView analysis, we highlighted numerous favorable technical signals since mid-April in favor of this rally towards the all-time record, including an analysis of the chart battlefield for the S&P 500 index at the beginning of June, which you can reread by clicking on the image below. In general, don't hesitate to follow our Swissquote account for regular updates on stock market indices and all other asset classes (bitcoin, forex, commodities, etc.).
S&P 500, the technical battleground for June


The short-term question is whether the S&P 500 index is in a position to break through its all-time high (ATH) in the immediate future, or whether it needs to enter a consolidation phase first.

The answer to this question is both technical and fundamental.

1) From a technical point of view, here are the conditions that would enable the S&P 500 to surpass its all-time record (even if it were to enter a short-term bearish consolidation first)

 The market may need to take a breather in the short term after the strong upward rally of the last two months. But for the medium/long term, the underlying trend remains bullish above support at 5800 points and above the 200-day moving average. On the long time horizon, the theoretical target for wave 5 (Elliott waves) lies at 6500 points.
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 In order for the S&P 500 to be in a position to break through its all-time record, it is imperative that stocks in the most important sectors in terms of weighting are bullish. The S&P 500 can only go higher if the technology, financials and consumer discretionary sectors contribute.
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 The study of US retail trader sentiment provides a contrarian approach to the financial markets, and it bodes well that doubt and pessimism remain dominant among retail investors. Bear in mind that market tops are built on euphoria, not pessimism.
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 Finally, in terms of quantitative analysis, the overbought zone is still a long way from the current price level, so it's conceivable that the S&P 500 index could be in a position to surpass its all-time record in the course of July, even if a consolidation phase were to develop in the short term.
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2) In terms of fundamentals, two factors seem to me to be essential for the S&P 500 index to be in a position to make further progress


 Firstly, the US equity market will not move higher until there is confirmation that the Fed will resume cutting the federal funds rate. On this subject, this week we offered you a full fundamental analysis, which you can read below. The market needs the FED's pivot on either July 30 or September 17. In terms of valuation, the S&P 500 is expensive again, so rate cuts are needed to justify further upside.
FED, rate cut possible on July 30?


With the rebound in share prices over the past 2 months, S&P 500 valuation is indeed back in the high zone, so we'll need sharply higher prospective earnings to justify a possible new all-time high in the coming months.
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