Even a slew of earnings beats from some of the world’s largest banks could not instigate a rally to end the week.
Following a volatile premarket session, the index managed to turn a 15-handle decline into nearly a 30-handle gain early in the session. However, the unstable geopolitical environment coupled with some good old profit taking resulted in a significant retreat from the high.
Heading into the final two hours of the session, the index found support in somewhat of a familiar area, last week’s closing price of 4341.50, reaching 4340.75. The bulls made several attempts to distance the index from that low, but were only mildly successful.
The end result for the session was a decline of 23.25 at the closing price of 4357.25. That narrows the gain for the week to only 15.75 handles.
Among the top components of the index, UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) was the biggest winner. The catalyst for the rally was Q3 earnings, with top and bottom line beats and raised FY 2023 guidance. For the session, the issue added $13.86 or 2.63% at the closing price of $539.40.
That performance was over three percent better than the cash index’s decline of 0.50%.
Conversely, Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was the biggest loser. The issue was under selling pressure the entire session, opening near its high and closing near its low. For the day, the issue declined by $7.75 or 3%.
