It is a big week for London’s FTSE stock index and America’s NASDAQ index as the close of this week will also bring the close of the monthly candle. I won’t be the only trader watching to see if the January monthly candles can take out the coveted 7,000 resistance level on the FTSE-100 and the 4,800 level on the NASDAQ.

The FTSE-100 is a share index listing the top 100 stocks by market capitalisation on London’s Stock Exchange.

FTSE monthly: the FTSE has yet to print a decisive close above the highs set back in either 2000 or 2007. A bullish ascending triangle pattern looks to be setting up on the index and a monthly close above 7000 would suggest this pattern has triggered. 

NASDAQ: this US index is setting up with a similar pattern and the 4,800 resistance level is the level to watch here:

The recent QE announcement by the ECB may be just the catalyst to trigger such a breakout on the FTSE though as similar stimulus packages across the Atlantic helped some US indices to achieve similar bullish triangle breakouts.

S&P500: a bullish triangle breakout was triggered back in 2013 with the help of US QE, or what became affectionately know as the ‘Bernanke Put’. This program helped to boost stocks and lift this index above its pre-GFC highs: 

DJIA: a similar bullish pattern was triggered on the DJIA as well, courtesy of the ‘Bernanke Put’:

German DAX: this European index has already made a bullish triangle breakout but the recent QE news has helped to accelerate further gains: 

Summary: watch at the end of this week for any bullish close above 7,000 on the FTSE index and 4,800 on the NASDQ as this would signal the start of monthly-chart bullish triangle breakouts. Any failure to achieve a close above these levels for this month would have me looking for a bullish close in subsequent months.