Trading Update: Thursday April 2, 2026
E-mini end of day video review
S&P E-mini market analysis
E-mini daily chart
- E-mini formed a disappointing bull follow-through bar following Tuesday’s strong reversal bar.
- The gap up and rally on Tuesday were already climactic, which increased the odds of the market getting a pullback. Yesterday, I also tested the 20-period moving average on the daily chart. This is a likely area to find temporary resistance.
- Even with today gapping down, the odds are there are buyers below willing to scale in lower. This will likely limit the downside and increase the probability of the bulls getting a second leg up.
- It’s possible that the daily chart goes sideways for several bars in between the 6,400 round number and the 20-period moving average, which is around 6,650.
- Even if the market continues to go sideways, the odds still favor higher prices and attest back to the midpoint of the trading range that began last October, which is around 6,900.
E-mini 5-minute chart and what to expect today
- Today gapped down in the open; however, because of the reasons mentioned above, the market was likely to find support on the open. This meant the odds favored the market testing into the gap and reaching yesterday’s low.
- The market formed a gap with Tuesday’s high and yesterday’s low that was also likely to be tested and closed.
- Because of the reasons mentioned above, the odds favored buyers on the open, and the bulls got a strong rally with bars 4, 5, and 6. This was a strong enough upside breakout that the odds favored a second leg up.
- The bulls managed to get a strong second leg up with bars 13 and 14; however, at this point, bar 14 was fairly climactic and a late leg in what was likely to be a trading range.
- With bar 14 being a relatively large bar, testing the upper third of yesterday’s high. The odds favor the market going sideways and testing down to the bar 14 low.
- As of bar 33, the bears are starting to gain control and form a series of bear bars. The bears are hopeful that bars 13 and 14 are a second leg trap, and therefore the market will have to test down to the 13 low, which is reasonable given how climactic bars 13 and 14 were.
- Because of the climactic behavior with bar 14, today is likely to have a lot of trading range price action for the rest of the day.
- The bulls have done a great job with the rally; however, the rally went too far, too fast, and that will likely limit the upside potential for the next several hours. Because the rally was strong, the odds are against the bears breaking below yesterday’s low. This means there will likely be bulls buying somewhere around the 14 low and the 12 low, willing to scale in lower.
Yesterday’s E-mini setups
Richard created the SP500 E-mini chart.
Here are reasonable stop entry setups from yesterday. Chart shows each buy entry bar with a green arrow and each sell entry bar with a red arrow. Buyers of the Brooks Trading Course have access to a near 4-year library of detailed explanations of swing trade setups (see Online Course/BTC Daily Setups) linked to the Brooks Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns product.
The goal with these charts is to present an Always In perspective. If a trader was trying to be Always In or nearly Always In a position all day, and he was not currently in the market, these entries would be logical times for him to enter. These therefore are swing entries.
It is important to understand that most swing setups do not lead to swing trades. As soon as traders are disappointed, many exit. Those who exit prefer to get out with a small profit (scalp), but often have to exit with a small loss.
If the risk is too big for your account, you should wait for trades with less risk or trade an alternative market like the Micro E-mini.
Summary of today’s S&P E-mini price action
Richard created the SP500 E-mini chart.
See the weekly update for a discussion of the price action on the weekly chart and for what to expect going into next week.
Trading Room
Al Brooks and other presenters talk about the detailed E-mini price action real-time each day in the Brooks Trading Course trading room. We offer a 2 day free trial.
Charts use Pacific Time
When times are mentioned, it is USA Pacific Time. The E-mini day session charts begin at 6:30 am PT and end at 1:15 pm PT which is 15 minutes after the NYSE closes. You can read background information on the market reports on the Market Update page.
