One characteristic of this choppy down month has been the absence of a three-day winning streak. While the index had a horrible span mid-month, the bulls have not been able to muster only one other two-day winning streak until today. Let alone, three in a row, which is the sign of an improving technical outlook for the index.
During premarket trading, the bulls defended Friday’s close, as the index bottomed one tick from that, at 4414.50. The stairstep rally continued off the open of the regular session, but stalled just over Wednesday’s closing price (4447 vs. 4447.75).
The bears made several attempts to get the index under 4220, but failed on every occasion. The afternoon chop fest resulted in a gain of 28 handles at 4442.25.
Among the top components of the index, Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) was the biggest winner. The issue, which was Friday’s biggest loser, shook out some bulls early when it breached $450, but came roaring back. For the session, the issue added $8.17 or 1.8% at the closing price of $468.35.
That was almost triple the cash index’s gain of 0.63%.
On the losing end, Johnson & Johnson Inc. (NYSE: JNJ) was by far the weakest of the group. For the session, the issue declined by $1.96 or 1.2% at the closing price of $164.29. That marks the lowest closing price for the issue since July 18.
