Based on the strong close of the S&P 500 index to end the week, along with robust early premarket trading, it appeared the index was going to have another good day. However, sellers stepped in front of the major resistance just under 4480 as the premarket rally came to an abrupt halt at 4472.50.
In a rare fashion, the index backed off 45 handles to make a premarket low at 4427. In the first 30 minutes of the session, that low was exceeded by two handles when it bottomed at 4425. The rebound off that low was capped in a familiar area which was just above Friday’s closing price of 4445.75 (high close for the week) at 4446.50. The remainder of the session was mostly a chop fest in the 4430 handle, with brief dips under 4430 and aborted rallies above 4440.
Uneasiness over the sudden departure of two Federal Reserve Bank officials resulted in the index closing just off the lows for the day. For the session, the index declined 12.75 handles to close at 4433. That erased the gains from Thursday and Friday but was still well above Wednesday’s closing price (4386.25).
The biggest gainer of the top components was JP Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM). The issue extended its winning streak to five consecutive sessions, coming within pennies of its all-time high ($167.44), only reaching $167.40. However, it did post a new all-time closing high by adding $3.76 or 2.3% to end the day at $166.80. That was much better than the cash index’s decline of 0.28%.
Leading the way on the downside for large-cap technology companies was Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA), which ended a three-day winning streak. For the session, the issue declined $4.21 or 0.19% to close at $216.60.
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