The S&P 500 index futures didn’t quite make it to new all-time highs in Monday’s session, but they did confirm two levels for traders and investors to pay attention to in the coming days.
Starting off Sunday night trading, the bulls held control over most action during the overnight and premarket hours. Just before the opening bell, the bears made sure to test support at last week’s closing level, not quite dipping into the red. Once the regular session commenced, support held just below Friday’s close and the rally was on. The bulls were able to slice through the premarket high, soon nearing the all-time high of 5349, but came up against selling pressure.
For the rest of the morning, the bulls inched towards the all-time high but came up just short at 5348.25. From there, the bears started to take control, bringing the index futures down to where the day started. One notable comment during the day’s Fedspeak was from Mester saying she does not think three rate cuts are still appropriate. Soon after this comment, the bears were able to test the bulls’ resolve, breaching support from the morning and dipping further into the red.
The bulls weren’t ready to give up, as they soon had the index futures back in the green, chopping around the all-time closing high of 5333. That is also where the day concluded, tacking on 4.50 handles to close at 5331.75.
Among the top components of the index, NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) emerged as the biggest gainer ahead of its earnings report expected after Wednesday’s close. Also assisted by some analyst price target upgrades, the chipmaker was able to advance by $23.01 or 2.49% to close at $947.80 for the day.
That performance was over 20 times better than the cash index’s advance of 0.12%.
The biggest loser ended up being JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) after their CEO suggested the company wouldn’t buy back a lot of stock at current prices. For the day, the banking behemoth declined by $9.26 or 4.52% to close at $195.58.
