Dow falters before 20,000

Despite a record breaking run by US stocks last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average again failed to break the 20,000 level.

While the S&P 500 rose 1.7 percent to an all-time high of 2,276.98, the Dow hit an intra-day high of 19,999.63 on Friday but fell back to close at 19,963.8.

Bloomberg reported that the “Dow’s flirtation suggests to some analysts that more than chance is keeping a lid on its progress -- that trading stops in the form of sell orders are pressuring the index each time it approaches 20,000.”

Indeed, Tom DeMark thinks that the stock market may be in a topping process. “It’s unanimous, every market, even the derivatives, they’re all identifying tops at this time, all upside projections,” he said.

Another Bloomberg report noted the large inflows into US stocks seen since 8 November and that this inflow is vulnerable to reversal.