The S&P 500 Index Futures broke its winning streak today as earnings week rolled on. The bears dominated most of the day’s action, with the index testing and failing to break past resistance at the premarket high early on.
For the majority of the session, the index followed a downward trajectory, with a minor uptick in buying toward the end of the regular session. The day ended with the index settling at 4565.50, marking a loss of 31.50 handles.
Today’s bearish momentum was triggered by a trio of less-than-stellar earnings reports. Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) and Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) underwhelmed in Wednesday’s after-hours session, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (NYSE: TSM) disappointed in this morning’s premarket session with lower guidance for the remainder of 2023. These results set a negative tone for the tech and consumer discretionary sectors for the day.
Among the top components, Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) proved to be the standout performer. Bucking the tech’s downtrend, the energy giant saw its shares climb by 1.76% or $1.79, closing at $103.41.
This performance stood in contrast to the cash index’s decline of 0.67% for the day, exceeding it by over 2%.
On the other end of the spectrum, Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was the day’s most significant underperformer among the top components. Following the release of its Q2 earnings yesterday, the electric vehicle manufacturer’s shares fell victim to a “buy-the-hype, sell-the-news” dynamic. Traders and investors offloaded the stock, pushing its price down by a hefty 9.74% or $28.36, closing at $262.90.
