Spooked investors swap stocks for bonds as the S&P sheds 1.45%

A quick look at Friday: the S&P 500 slid into the red after losing 56.73 points and ending the session at 3,861.59.

Investor risk appetite was subdued as stocks were sold off in favour of perceivably safer alternatives such as government bonds. The iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF has gone up 1.41% to trade at $23.05, thereby indicating that government bond yields were downbeat across the yield curve.

S&P 500 could begin to recover as it approaches significant support, now 34.33 points away from 3,827.26. Dipping below could be an indication that further losses are ahead. The MACD is significantly below its signal line, which suggests the market is running out of bearish momentum and could revert to a positive outlook as bulls regain control. Bollinger Bands® shows an indication of recovery: the lower band is at 3,848.5, a low enough level to, generally, suggest that the S&P 500 is trading below its fair value.

Technical analysis indicates that the S&P's current downtrend might soon change course and start climbing up in the short term.

In the meantime, negative performances are also seen in other markets, ASX 200 lost 2.28% Friday and closed at 7,311. After ending Friday's session at 19,926, Hang Seng lost 605.82 points and is trading around 19,320. After ending Friday's session at 7,880, FTSE lost 131.65 points and is trading around 7,748.35.

The index has been trending lower for about a month. The S&P 500 is now trading 9.54% above the significant low (3,577) it slumped to 4 months ago.