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Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Levels to watch: FTSE, DAX and Dow

Further losses for the FTSE 100 make the picture for this index quite bearish, while US markets may also be putting in a short-term high. 

Data trader
Source: Bloomberg

FTSE 100 faces more losses

The failure to break above the 50-day simple moving average (SMA) at 7312 this week emboldened the bears on the FTSE, and we saw further losses yesterday. Some short-term support is possible at 7192 (the low of 24 February), and below this, the index is poised to return to the 7090 level that held last week.

The creation of a new lower high this week certainly lends credence to the theory that more downside is ahead, but it will require the bears to break the 7090 level, which would raise the prospect of a move to 6940 and lower.

FTSE chart

DAX sticks to 12,400 for now  

This DAX has clung on stubbornly above 12,400, having barely moved since Monday (indeed, since 11am on Monday the index has seen a range of only 108 points). As 12,408 continues to hold, a bounce is still possible, but declining momentum indicators and losses for other indices would suggest a more bearish performance next week.

Below 12,408 the 12,179 and 12,032 levels come into play, while bulls will need to break above the all-time high at 12,517 to put the index back on an upward footing. 

DAX chart

Dow heading for a new lower high?

If Dow Jones continues to turn lower, then we have a new lower high here as well. The index faltered around 21,023, about 150 points shy of the all-time high.

A drop below the 50-day SMA (20,759) would lead to a test of the rising trendline off the January lows, around 20,560, and then to 20,392. 

Dow Jones chart

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