It’s another feather in the cap for the bears, as the S&P 500 index futures declined for the third day in a row. The index spent a vast majority of the premarket session in the red and never went green during the regular session.
The index ebbed and flowed with Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments during his testimony on the economy to the Congress. The breach of Tuesday’s low (4410.50) was short-lived as the retreat stalled ahead of the psychological support level of 4400, only reaching 4403.50.
The index staged a strong rebound off that and made a new intraday high only to fade into the close. In the final hour, there was a steady stream of sellers sending the index down 25.50 handles for the day at the closing price of 4409.25.
UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) was the biggest winner of the top components of the index. The issue continues to distance itself from its panic-selling low from last week ($445.68), by gaining $7.06 or 1.5% at the closing price of $476.75.
That was over two percent better than the cash index’s decline of 0.58%.
After being the biggest winner of the top components two days in a row, Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was the biggest loser. The Street took some time to digest the Barclays downgrade as the issue was initially higher by over $2 off the open, but ended in the red by $14.99 or 5.5% at the closing price of $259.46.
