The S&P 500 index futures three-day winning streak was snapped on Friday and the streak is anew on the downside. In addition to Friday’s weak close, the threat of geopolitical tensions rising with China emerged over the weekend with the shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon that made it across the United States last week.
The news instigated a lower opening of the premarket session and the index was unable to go unchanged in either premarket or regular sessions. The bears were gunning for more when the index breached the premarket low around 10:30 AM EST, but the bulls made a stand just above the psychological support level of 4100.
Heading into the final 30 minutes, the bears attempted to take the index to a new low off a larger than usual sell imbalance for the close, but were unsuccessful. It was one of those sessions, where the 9:30 AM EST opening print (4121.25) did not differ much from the closing print. For the session, the index declined by 24.25 handles with a closing price of 4123.50.
UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) was the biggest gainer of the top components of the index. For the session, the issue advanced by $3.22 or 0.68% to close at $475.24.
That was much better than the cash index’s decline of 0.61%.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) reversed its role from Friday and was the biggest loser of the top components. For the session, the issue declined by $2.77 or 1.79% with a closing price of $151.73.
