After the fireworks following the release of Fed minutes on Wednesday, market participants were prepared for a choppy session and they got one.
The bears were in control until 1:00 PM and had the S&P 500 index futures on the brink of a major breakdown. However, as we have witnessed on so many occasions, the bulls came to the rescue. Once it matched Wednesday’s low to the tick (4444.50), which coincided with a pair of lows from late March, the bulls regained control.
Heading into the final 15 minutes of the session, the index seemed destined to test Wednesday’s high but came up shy. Investors were anxious to lock in profits after a few rocky sessions and instigated a 20 handle decline in the closing minutes.
For the session, the index gained 20.50 handles to close at 4496.25.
For the third day in a row, UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) was the biggest gainer of the components of the index. Also, for the third day in a row, the issue posted a new all-time and all-time closing high by gaining $5.20 or 0.99% to close at $536.95.
That was over double the cash index’s gain of 0.43%.
For the third day in a row, Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) was the biggest loser of the top components of the index. It extended its losing streak to four sessions, falling by $1.99 or 0.08%.
