After a few days of major volatility, the best thing for the S&P 500 index futures to do was have a quiet or inside day. If the after-hours low from Tuesday (4136.75) is included, then the index did have an inside day as the daily low was 4149. On the upside, the index came nowhere near Tuesday’s high (4303.50) as the rally stalled well shy of that at 4236.25.
The best way to describe today’s price action was choppy. After the explosive rally off the opening fizzled out, the index swooned nearly 70 handles but found support ahead of the premarket low. That set the stage for a 70-plus handle rally to a new high session. When that rally stalled, the index tanked again but found buyers just under the close and had a slight bounce into the close.
For the session, the index futures added 9.75 handles to close at 4180.25. After Meta Platforms’ Q1 beat, the index tacked on another 20 handles to end the after-hours session at 4198.
After a Q1 beat, Microsoft Inc. (NASDAQ: MSFT) was the biggest winner of the top components by a wide margin. For the session, the issue added $13 or 4.8 percent to close at $283.22.
That was much better than the cash index’s gain of only 0.23 percent.
Although it will be reflected by its post-earnings price action, Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) was the biggest loser of the top components of the index. For the session, the issue declined by $6 or 3.3 percent to close at $174.95. In after-hours trading, the issue was making an attempt to clear $200 as of 4:20 PM EST.
PreMarket Prep Stock Of The Day: Visa Inc. (NYSE: V)
Had a very good day following its Q1 beat, but closed well off the high for the session. Read more on V here.
