The S&P 500 surged about 1% on Thursday as a result of the positive response to Meta Platform's fourth-quarter earnings print, boosted by the fact that the PYPL gap was up over 4%, in tandem with the general market, which saw the S&P 500 surge about 1%.
The gap-up open allowed PayPal to regain the 200 day simple moving average SMA as support without having to battle the area during regular trading hours.
The 200 day SMA is an important bellwether. Technical traders and investors consider a stock trading above the daily chart to be in a bull cycle, while a stock trading under the 200 day SMA is considered to be in a bear cycle.
The 50 day SMA plays an important role in technical analysis, especially when paired with the 200 day day. When the 50 day SMA crosses above the 200 day SMA, a death cross occurs whereas when the 50 day SMA crosses above the 200 day mark, a bullish cross takes place.
The PayPal chart: On Wednesday, PayPal attempted to regain the 200 day SMA as support, but closed just under the area. The stock is likely to consolidate above the area for a period after PayPal has regained the 200 day support.
The resistance is above $86.81 and $94.50 and the support below is $86.81 and $82.07.
The Analysts say that PayPal's downsizing was needed for a simpler cost structure.