On many occasions, the day ahead of key economic data being released, the S&P 500 index futures are often range bound and choppy. The reason being investors on both sides of the market attempt to limit exposure ahead of a potentially market-moving event.
Monday’s session was not like that at all as the index paired much of last week’s losses, even with the downing of a few UFO’s over the weekend. While the index did spend some time in the red during premarket trading, it only came within a few points of unchanged during the regular session before rallying.
Once the index breached the premarket high, the pace of the rally accelerated. The index peaked just after 2:00 PM EST and backed off from the high, but only temporarily. Despite a large sell imbalance for the close ($2B), the index settled just off the high for the session.
To start the week, the index added 47.50 handles with a closing print of 4147.25.
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) continues to rally on AI hype and was the biggest winner of the top components of the index. For the session, the issue advanced $8.22 or 3.1% to close at $271.
Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) backed off from its all-time high made on Friday, and was the biggest loser of the top component of the index. For the session, the issue declined by $1.37 or 1.15% to close at $117.80.
