Pre-London Session Brief | Friday 24 April 2026 | 07:00 London / 02:00 New York / 15:00 Tokyo
Thursday was a rotation day. SPY slipped 0.39% to $708.45 while crude oil surged 4.64% to $97.27. Microsoft dropped nearly 4%. Tesla fell 3.56%. But the Nasdaq 100 held above 26,800 overnight and is now trading at 26,917, up from Thursday’s close. The overnight session has been quiet and constructive. No panic selling, no gap down, no headline shock. The buyers are still in the market. They are just being selective about what they buy.
The picture from the chart is clear: long at 96% conviction. Entry at 26,898, stop at 26,866, first target at 26,962. The bias has not changed despite Thursday’s pullback. The channel floor held. The structure is still rising. Momentum is with the buyers. But the sentiment reading at 32 out of 100 tells you the crowd is nervous. That gap between high conviction on the chart and low sentiment in the crowd is where the opportunity sits. When the tools say buy and the crowd says sell, the tools tend to be right.
Scoring Thursday’s Calls
What the Chart Says
The 390-minute chart is unambiguous. Long at 96% conviction. Every layer of the analysis agrees: trend is rising, structure is bullish, momentum is building, and volume confirms buyers are stepping in. The entry sits at 26,898 with a tight stop at 26,866. That is 32 points of risk for a first target at 26,962 giving you 2:1 reward-to-risk. The channel ceiling sits at 27,857 which tells you how much room there is above if this move extends.
The interesting divergence is sentiment at 32/100 reading risk-off lean while the chart reads 96% long. When the crowd is cautious but the underlying structure is strong, it means there is fuel for the move. Nervous traders who sold Thursday become buyers on confirmation. That buying pressure has not been released yet.
London Session Setup
Oil watch: Crude at $96.12 is still near $100. If London pushes oil higher, it changes the inflation conversation for the afternoon US session. If oil fades below $95, Thursday’s spike was a one-day event and the pressure comes off. Watch Brent crude in the first hour.
MSFT fallout: Microsoft dropped nearly 4% on Thursday. The European session will show whether that selling extends or stabilises. If MSFT futures hold above $412, the damage is contained. Below that and the tech rotation deepens.
FX: EUR/USD at 1.1682 (-0.20%), GBP/USD at 1.3462 (-0.29%). Dollar continuing to firm modestly. Not a trend reversal but two consecutive sessions of strength. Sterling traders watch for any UK data surprise.
Gold: Drifted to $4,689 overnight, down 0.35%. The metals pullback from Wednesday’s high continues. Structural demand thesis is intact but the short-term is correcting. Not a day to add gold exposure unless it drops to $4,650 support.
This is analysis, not financial advice. Always manage your risk.
