We all know about the propensity of the S&P 500 index futures to make the highs or lows for the week on Friday and often close near one of those extremes. Unfortunately, in today’s session, the index did make a new all-time high but faltered to end the session in the red.
The euphoria from the somewhat benign February job’s data lasted until just after 10:30 AM EST and evaporated in a dramatic fashion. Once the index was unable to hold Thursday’s all-time closing high price (5161.75), the pace of the decline accelerated.
Heading into the final hour, the index was making a valiant attempt to go green, but failed miserably. The continued weakness in the market leaders (chip stocks) weighed heavily on the index’s rebound.
Selling intensified in the final thirty as the index cascaded towards lows for the session, but found buyers in the final minutes to stave off a more severe decline.
For the session, the index surrendered 32.75 handles at the closing price of 5129. Friday’s decline also snapped a two-week winning streak. Longer-term, the index has been higher in 17 of the last 20 weeks.
After a rough week, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was the biggest winner of the top components. The issue rebounded $1.73 or just over 1% at the closing price of $170.73. That narrowed the decline for the week to $8.93 or 4.97%.
The issue is now revisiting prices not seen since late October, which was a precursor to its run to a new all-time high on December 14 ($199.62).
That performance was over 4 times better than the cash index’s advance of 0.99%.
Conversely, a recent addition to the top components, Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) was the biggest loser. Despite a solid Q1 beat on both the top and bottom line, investors exited the issue on disappointing guidance.
For the session, the chip giant swooned $100.29 or 7.12% at the closing price of $1306.72. However, for the week, it still ended fractionally in the green.
