The premarket and the regular session were polar opposites. During the premarket session, the S&P 500 index futures reached the highest level since September 19. It flirted with that area off the opening, but investors turned cautious when the index failed to follow through on the overnight move.
The momentum to the downside accelerated when better-than-expected economic data was released at both 9:45 AM and 10 AM EST. The aggressive selling abated heading into lunch.
Most of the late afternoon was spent chopping around Monday’s low, which had been the highest low for the recent rebound. Despite a buy imbalance for the close, the index tapered off to close lower by 17 handles at 3866.
JP Morgan & Chase Co. (NYSE: JPM) continued its monster rally off its October low and was the biggest winner of the top components of the index. For the session, the issue advanced by $2.27 or 1.8% to close at $128.15.
That was over 2% better than the cash index’s decline of 0.41%.
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) continued its post-earnings spiral lower and was the biggest loser of the top components of the index. For the session, the issue swooned $5.65 or 5.5% to close at $96.79. That marks the lowest close for the issue since March 2020.
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