Premarket Levels, No Chase Trades Into Year-End

ZenTrader – The Daily Ticker

Friday, December 26, 2025

📌 Reminder: Post-holiday conditions. No major economic data or earnings referenced. Expect thinner liquidity and less forgiving price action.

Pre-Market Snapshot

(Insert Finviz market snapshot – yesterday close / premarket futures)

Markets are setting up constructively after a clean Nasdaq reclaim, but price is now extended and rotating back into the center of prior December chop. Premarket focus is on levels, not momentum. The edge today is waiting for pullbacks into demand rather than chasing expansion.

Yesterday’s Price Action

What Happened Yesterday?

(Insert Finviz market snapshot – yesterday)

Nasdaq futures reclaimed a key prior rejection zone near 25,600, confirming the pullback-long thesis from earlier in the week. That reclaim held into the holiday break and produced upside continuation.

SPX continued to outperform and sit closer to highs, while QQQ lagged beneath a known rejection zone. This divergence remains important: QQQ acceptance or rejection at supply will likely guide the next directional push.

Lesson: The trade worked at demand. Expansion is the reward, not the entry.

Major Index & Macro Overview

(Insert ZenTrader daily charts below each index)

S&P 500 (SPY / ES)

• Current Price: $6,939.65 / ATH: $6,949.65

• Distance from ATH: % or points

• YTD: %

• Bias: Bullish, but pullbacks required

Nasdaq (QQQ / NQ)

• Current Price: $624.51 / ATH: $637.24

• Key driver: Semiconductor leadership and structural reclaim

• Structural note: Price is back in the middle of the December chop range

Dow Jones (DIA / YM)

• Current Price: $48,677.99 / ATH: $48,889.94

• Structural note: STRUCTURE PLACEHOLDER

Bitcoin (BTC)

• Current Price: $86,877.1 / ATH: $126,210.50

• Risk sentiment implication: Not confirming equity strength; patience required

Precious Metals

• Gold (GLD): $4,539.71 / ATH: $4,545.02

• Silver (SLV): $75.518 / ATH: $75.68

• Theme: Strong momentum, but best entries come from pullbacks to prior highs

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B. Sectors

Positive Sectors Today

Semiconductors

• Clear leadership and clean reclaims

• Pullbacks into prior highs remain the preferred entries

Precious Metals

• Sustained momentum

• Waiting for pullbacks before engaging

Top Symbols to Watch Today

Nasdaq Futures (NQ)

• Technical state: Reclaim confirmed

• What matters next: No chasing inside chop

• Key levels: 25,600–25,700, then 25,400 below

S&P 500 (ES / SPX)

• Technical state: Relative strength leader

• What matters next: Pullback into structure

• Key level: ~6,950–6,957

QQQ

• Technical state: Pressing major prior rejection

• What matters next: Needs clean acceptance above supply

• Key levels: ~625 supply, ~629 hold, risk back toward ~613–615

SMH

• Technical state: Reclaimed highs holding as support

• What matters next: Pullback long if structure holds

• Key level: ~360–361, upside reference ~372

NVIDIA (NVDA)

• Technical state: Weekly breakout above ~184.47

• What matters next: Retest is the high-probability entry

• Key levels: ~184.50 pullback, ~191 overhead

Micron Technology (MU)

• Technical state: Clear leadership, extended

• What matters next: Wait for structure to come back to price

• Key levels: ~260–264, aggressive ~280

Alphabet (GOOGL)

• Technical state: Controlled, low-volume pullback with reclaim

• What matters next: Hold reclaimed lows

• Key levels: ~311–314, upside ~324

GLD

• Technical state: Momentum strong

• What matters next: Pullback only

• Key level: ~403

SLV

• Technical state: Momentum expansion

• What matters next: Pullback into prior highs

• Key levels: ~72–73, deeper ~69.50

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ZenTrader’s Watchlist

• Futures: NQ, ES

• ETFs: QQQ, SPY, SMH, IWM, GLD, SLV

• Stocks: NVDA, MU, GOOGL, TSLA

• Crypto: BTC

Swing Trade

Semiconductors – Pullback Leadership

Leadership remains intact, but we only engage on pullbacks into reclaimed demand, not late-stage extensions.

Names on our radar:

• NVDA – Retest of ~184.50 with hold

• MU – Pullback into ~260–264

• SMH – Pullback into ~360–361

Industry Group Snapshot

Bullish Industry Groups

• Semiconductors: NVDA, MU, AMD, AVGO

• Precious Metals: GLD, SLV

Bearish / Cautious Industry Groups

• Crypto (short term): BTC awaiting confirmation

ZenTrader Note

Year-end doesn’t reward activity—it rewards precision. Missing a trade is cheaper than chasing one. The rule into 2026 is simple: fewer trades, cleaner levels, better results.