At one point the S&P 500 index futures were higher by over 20 handles heading into lunchtime, and after the FOMC announcement the index was in the red by 30 handles.
However, the “hawkish” pause by the Federal Reserve Bank yielded a gain of 1.75 handles at the closing price of 4418.50.
For the time being, the Fed and investors are content with the recent data indicating that inflation is being reigned in by the sharp increases in interest rates. Heading into Friday’s quadruple witch expiration, there is no identifiable resistance in site.
Among top components, Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) was the biggest gainer of the top components of the index for the second day in a row. The issue posted a new all-time high and closing high by a wide margin after gaining $19.75 or 4.8% at the closing price of $429.97.
That dwarfed the cash index’s gain of 0.04%.
By far, the biggest loser of the top components of the index was UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH). After the company’s CEO announced elevated volumes of non-urgent surgeries at an analyst conference, it was inundated with sellers. For the session, the issue declined by $31.45 or 6.4% at the closing price of $459.86.
