Solid earnings reports are helping to put in a bit of a floor in the market. But the sensitivity here to the economic data given the question about the outlook for Fed tightening, that seems to be the overriding influence.
We got exactly what everyone expected, showing the Fed did a very good job of telegraphing in advance what they were going to do,
Technically, the market still looks pretty good despite the light volume we've seen this week. But we're probably not ready to break out above this level until we get a better read on when the Fed is going to be finished up raising rates.
It may be a little bit of a buyers' strike ... if we do get a strong (payroll) report tomorrow, it suggests the Fed is going to have to be more aggressive.
Once again, we're seeing a reaction to soft economic data. It seems to be the key to reducing worries about how aggressive the Fed is going to be going forward, which seems to be the catalyst for stocks here.