The has been stuck in neutral since mid-May, squeezed between a rocket-propelled U.S. economy and fears over the stability of the European Union and a Trump trade war.
One chart watcher says this stock market is still a good place for bulls despite the geopolitical risk.
"I think that there is a lot of upside," Bill Baruch, president of Blue Line Futures, told CNBC's "Trading Nation" on Friday. "It's a very tradeable market. In fact, it's a trader's paradise."
The stock market has shown what Baruch sees as resilience under a barrage of threats. Those headwinds need to die down before the S&P 500 can spring higher, he says.
"What's really holding the market back is a different story, or a different sector each day," Baruch said. "This market wants to go higher but you have different issues holding it back."
Last week began with a global sell-off on the back of Italy's political crisis. The market came under more pressure with President Donald Trump's tariff tensions on Thursday. Renewed U.S.-North Korea summit discussions rounded out the geopolitical focus on Friday.
Stocks also have a series of technical hurdles to break through, says Baruch.
"One of the technical levels holding it back is right around 2,740. From March 18 that's where the market closed and broke down from and there is a big gap there. It needs to repair and push through there, so there's a lot of resistance," said Baruch.
The S&P 500 last touched 2,740 on an intraday basis on May 22. It has not closed above that level since March 15. It was around 2,743 in Monday's premarket.
"You've got to buy the pullbacks," Baruch said. "For this market, once it gets above 2,756, you're talking a breakout."
Craig Johnson, chief market technician at Piper Jaffray, says the markets could hang in this tight trading range until breaking out later this year.
"For the last 15 sessions, to be exact, we've been in this sideways consolidation range between 2,700 and 2,740. From my perspective, I still think there's going to be upside in the second half of this year. We can see 2,850 by year end," Johnson said on Friday's "Trading Nation."
A second-half breakout requires the next big catalyst, a search still underway in markets, says Johnson. Two upcoming events that could move the needle include the anticipated Singapore summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 12 and the Fed's policy meeting on June 12-13.
