The markets opened higher this morning, but the bears came to the table early and drove the markets lower.  SPX hit its low for the day around noon ET and then recovered a bit to close at $1973, down $4 on the day. RUT traded weaker than SPX (as usual), closing down $12 to $1154. For SPX, this remains well above support in the range of $1950 to $1960. RUT traded down through support at $1156 and the 50 dma at $1950 and bounced back to close just below the $1156 support level.

The VIX moved up slightly, about a tenth of a point, to close at 12%. Retail sales for June increased 0.2%, down from May's +0.5%. The Empire manufacturing survey moved up significantly for July to 25.6 from June's 19.3. Tomorrow brings the Fed Beige Book (minutes from the last FOMC meeting) and PPI.

Tomorrow's trading in RUT will be interesting; will RUT lead the market lower or bounce back higher?