The recent stock market advance has been a "relief rally" that may run out of steam, BTIG Chief Technical Strategist Katie Stockton said Tuesday.
"It is a countertrend rally at this point. We do have those lower highs and lower lows," she told CNBC's "Squawk Box," following a five-session winning streak for the . The index, as of Monday's close of 2,001.76 , was up 8 percent since its most recent low on Feb. 11.
Looking at the S&P's 200-day moving average, Stockton said: "You can see it's rolled over" and facing "overhead resistance" to 2,025 with the "first major support is near 1,820."
"We've seen a change in the character of the market year to date," Stockton said, pointing to the worst January performance since 2009, which continued for the first nine trading days of February.
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"Last year wasn't great either, we saw a lot of negative divergences: less participation on the upside [and] we saw loss of momentum that was very real," she said. "It wasn't until January that we saw a lot of breakdowns. And indeed those breakdowns are very difficulty to recover from."
"We need to respect that," she continued, "[and] have a shorter time frame on long positions and be somewhat noncommittal."
As for U.S. oil prices, up nearly 40 percent since the recent $26.05-per-barrel bottom on Feb. 11, Stockton said she's not convinced of the staying power of the upswing.
"We did see WTI crude get above its 50-day moving average," she said. "It could prove to be something more than that later on. But it's early stages." Energy stocks had anticipated "additional stabilization," she added.
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But even with the recent surge, West Texas Intermediate crude, the American oil benchmark, was still down over 60 percent since the June 20, 2014, top of $107.26 per barrel.