United's Stock Peeks Briefly Above Key Technical Level But Fails To Hold Above It, Again

United Continental Holdings Inc.'s stock edged up 0.6% in morning trade Wednesday, but pared earlier gains of as much as 1.4%, as it once again failed to sustain gains above a key technical level. The widely-watched 50-day moving average, which many chart watchers see as a dividing line between short-term uptrends and downtrends, currently extends to $71.64. The air carrier's stock briefly traded above the 50-day MA when it reached an intraday high of $71.73, before pulling back below it, in the wake of incident over the weekend in which a passenger was dragged off a United plane. On Monday, the stock rose to an intraday high of $72.10, which was above the 50-day MA at the time of $71.65, before closing below it at $71.52. The last time the stock closed above the 50-day MA was March 3, 2017. The stock remains well above its 200-day moving average, seen by many as the long-term trend tracker, which currently extends to $61.30. Meanwhile, the NYSE Arca Airline Index rose 0.6% to 112.24, putting it on track to close above the 50-day MA (109.52) for a sixth-straight session. The S&P 500 was down 0.1% at 2,350.67, just below the 50-day MA at 2,351.04. The S&P 500 hasn't closed below its 50-day MA since election day.

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