LIVE MARKETS-S&P 500 index looking to get back on track

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S&P 500 INDEX LOOKING TO GET BACK ON TRACK

The S&P 500 index .SPX ended Friday down 0.39% for the week at 5,976.97. With this, the benchmark index snapped a two-week winning streak.

The SPX ended down 2.72% from its 6,144.15 February 19 record close, and down 2.77% from its 6,147.43 record intraday high.

That said, U.S. stock index futures are higher on Monday as easing oil prices are helping to calm sentiment despite ongoing attacks between Iran and Israel. There is also increased focus on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision on Wednesday, when policymakers are widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged.

Investors will focus on Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments as well as the central bank's updated projections for monetary policy and the economy, for clues on potential rate cuts later this year.

Ahead of Monday's open, e-mini S&P 500 futures EScv1 are trading up around 0.7%, so the S&P 500 index looks to reclaim the 6,000 level and get back on track to the upside in the initial throes of Monday's regular session.

New highs remain within striking distance, though the SPX will need to push above its 6,059.40 June 11 high to clear the way higher:

Just ahead of the February 19 record highs, the December-January intraday highs were at 6,099.97 and 6,128.18.

Traders are also eyeing the long-term resistance line from the 1929 high, which resides around 6,250 in June.

This line presents a major hurdle given that it capped strength in the December-February period. It now sits about 4.6% above Friday's finish.

On weakness below Friday's 5,963.21 low, the next support is at the June 5 low at 5,921.20. The May 30 low was at 5,843.66, and the May 27 gap requires a fall to 5,829.51 for a fill.

The closely followed 200-day moving average (DMA), as well as the Fibonacci-based 233-DMA, ended Friday in the 5,806-5,761 area.

In the event of a decline to this area, bulls would once again look for these moving averages to offer fertile ground for a resumption of the advance off the early April trough, as occurred in later May.

(Terence Gabriel)

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