The FOMC minutes were the catalyst for the break from the balance area created in the day prior. The early morning tested the 34-36 support zone and failed to bring in aggressive sellers. Once back above the prior day's open and VPOC, overnight shorts were squeezed, as can be seen with the single prints highlighted above.

The POC/VPOC build above the overnight high and the rally fell just a point short of the composite VPOC at 2061.50, leaving a poor high on the market profile.

The daily chart below shows where the ES is in relation to current value of the range from 1957.25-2071.50.

Plan for Thursday:

Overnight saw a very brief move higher to 2062.00 and has been weak ever since, tracking USDJPY all morning. The zones for today are below and highlight the swing bull/bear zone at 34-36, which if tested again has a high chance of breaking this time and could see long liquidation. The bull/bear zone for today is at 56.25-57.50, from the overnight break lower during the European session.

I would expect the 41-42 zone to see strong responsive buying on first test, which is where yesterday morning broke out from. Below there, shorts could really press the downside to break the 34-6 zone. Above, 53.50-55 is initial resistance, closely followed by the 56.25-57.50 day bull/bear. Once above there, longs are likley to press and squeeze shorts out into the higher zones.