Although economic and corporate data generally came in above expectations overnight and into today, indices appear to be having trouble breaking through key resistance levels. Highlights of the news included better-than-expected earnings reports out of Goldman Sachs, Citigroup (C), Southwest Airlines and others. On the economic side, U.S. continuing claims dropped back below the six million level, and the Empire manufacturing survey doubled the Street estimate (34.5 vs. Street 17.2). This suggests that recent advances may have already priced in anticipation of these data points and that some investors may be taking profits against the news. It also means that tonight’s major earnings reports from companies like IBM (IBM) and Google (GOOG) plus General Electric (GE) and Bank of America (BAC) tomorrow morning, may be critical in setting the tone heading into the heart of earnings season next week and give an idea if bulls have enough reason to overcome resistance at current key psychological levels.

Current resistance levels for major indices include 10,000 for the Dow Industrials (US30 CFD), 1,100 for the S&P 500 (SPX500 CFD), 22,000 for the Hang Seng (HongKong33 CFD), 5,250 for the FTSE (UK100 CFD) and 700 for the S&P/TMX 60 (Toronto60 CFD).

Producers of cell phones and PDAs have been under pressure today as the Street has reacted unfavourably to Nokia’s earnings report. There does appear to be a difference in sentiment toward those that appear to be widely considered to have leading technologies and those believed to be caught behind the curve as Nokia (NOK) has dropped 10.9% and Motorola (MOT) has dropped 5.2%, while Research in Motion (RIMM) and Apple (AAPL) are down only 1.1% and 0.7%, respectively.

The energy group continues to advance today off of rising commodity prices. In the U.S., the refiners and drillers have been leading the charge, while in Canada it has been the senior E&P companies leading the way.

Commodities update: Energy group rallies on inventories and seasonality

Energy commodities have been rallying today after the release of generally better-than-expected inventory numbers. U.S. crude has launched from the $75/bbl toward $77.25/bbl after inventories increased less than expected (+0.33 mmbbls vs. Street +1.0mmbbls). The next key resistance range for crude appears between $84 and $86/bbl. Similarly, gasoline has blasted through the $1.90 level and appears to be trending toward a retest of $2 after inventories surprisingly shrank (-5.2mmbbls vs. Street +1.1 mmbbls). These numbers also appear to have helped boost heating oil though $1.90 toward a test of $2 resistance. Heating oil and natural gas (which shrugged off a disappointing inventory report +52BCF vs. Street +52BCF) also appear to have benefited from cool temperatures in the east and anticipation of a possible early start to home heating season.

Metals, on the other hand, have been mixed today as gold dropped back to test $1,050/oz and silver fell to test $17.50/oz. Copper, on the other hand, remained fairly stable trading between $2.77 and $2.88/lb. Grains have been sliding today with soybeans dropping back under $10/bushel toward $9.75, and wheat falling back to test $5/bushel. Weakness in these commodity areas may be attributed to a trading bounce in the U.S. Dollar.

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This commentary is based upon technical analysis. Technical analysis is the study of price and volume and the interpretation of trading patterns associated with such studies in an attempt to project future price movements. Technical analysis does not consider any of the fundamentals of an underlying company, and as such is inherently uncertain and should not be the only factor considered by an investor in making an investment decision.