The first day of the Santa Claus rally was not all smooth sailing for the bulls. The continuation of the premarket rally stopped dead in its tracks just above the closing high for the move (4520.25) on Tuesday, reaching 4821.25.
After reversing course, the bears went on the attack and were able to push the index in the red. However, the bulls made a stand just under the premarket low and spared a 20+ handle rally.
The final hour of the session was a chopfest between 4798 and 4808. The final few minutes and just after the closing bell was treacherous. After the closing print, which was higher by 8.50 handles at 4805.25, the index spiked to 4808.25 and quickly retreated to the 4800 area, emphasizing the importance of the closing print as resistance when the index reopens on Christmas Day at 6:00 PM EST.
Among the top components, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) was the biggest winner. The issue added $0.92 or 0.64% at the closing price of $142.72. That extends its winning streak to six sessions. In addition, it has moved higher in eight of its last nine sessions, with the one outlier being a small decline of $0.77 on December 14.
That was much better than the cash index’s advance of 0.17%.
On the other end of the top components, Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was the biggest loser. For the session, the issue declined by $1.96 or 0.7% at the closing price of $252.54.
