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There was some concern heading into Friday that Thursday's gains were going to be clawed back, but I was surprised by the extent of the buying that showed up. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 witnessed the best of the action.

The S&P 500 made a good, "clean" breakout, ending the bear market that kicked off at the end of 2021. The weekly buying volume was a little below par, but it was the price action that was most welcome. Weekly technicals are very strong; note the new high in on-balance-volume. Buyers are seemingly keen to get involved, although this may come at the expense of small-cap stocks.

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The Nasdaq hasn't made it to a new all-time high, but it continues to build the right-hand-side of its base. As with the S&P 500, the volume was a little light on the week, but technical strength was good. The index is outperforming the S&P 500, which is in itself an excellent sign given the move to all-time highs in the latter index.

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The Russell 2000 was perhaps the only index to disappoint a little. It has the most room to mount a recovery, and it had successfully defended its 50-day MA on the daily time frame. The weekly chart shows a nice bullish hammer, so I would be looking for a positive week from the index, even if the weekly close was below that $196/7 support level.

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For next week, we may see some early selling in the Nasdaq and S&P 500 that could benefit the Russell 2000 if it's able to attract some of the proceeds from those sales. By the end of the week, I will be looking for an advance in the Russell 2000, and for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to see an end-of-week finish comparable to, or better than, Friday's close.

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