The regular session on Friday was the polar opposite of the after-hours/premarket session. While the index spent almost the entire time in the red early on, buyers emerged off the opening bell.
The index was off the morning lows when the investors got some more benign inflation data at 8:30 AM, with the March PCE (Personal Consumption and Expenditure) data came inline.
The rally paused at Thursday’s high, but once it cleared the level, the pace of the rally quickened. In fact, the index was able to make a new high for the week (4185.75), which was just shy of last week’s high (4198.25).
More banking woes regarding First Republic Bank (NYSE: FRC) instigated a pre-lunch retreat, but the retreat found buyers near Thursday’s close and the rally resumed.
The index had backed off heading into the final hour, once again found buyers. A large imbalance to the buy side enabled the index to close just off the highs for the session. For the session, the index 34.75 handles at 4188.50,That brings the gains for the week to 31.75 handles and 50.75 handles for the limited range month of April.
Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was the biggest winner of the top components of the index. The issue, which reached its lowest level on Thursday since late January, added $4.12 or 2.57% at the closing price of $164.31.
That was over three times the cash index’s gain of 0.84%.
Despite a Q1 beat, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) was the biggest loser of the top components of the index. For the session, the issue declined $4.37 or 4% at the closing price of $105.99.