Investors will be more apt to discuss their portfolio holdings at Thanksgiving dinner this year as the S&P 500 index is sporting some nice gains since last year at this time. In fact, the index reached its highest level since August, as it added 16 handles at the closing price of 4567.25.
Once the index righted itself during the premarket into the green, there was aggressive buying off the opening bell of the regular session. The index did not blink at the former high of the move (4571) racing to 4580.50, before reversing course.
Whether it was the potential threats of terrorist activity or a case of too much too fast, the index went into retreat mode. However, the brisk 20+ handle retreat never reached Tuesday’s close and the “buy the dip” crowd took over.
For the remainder of the day, the index attempted to make a new high for the day but was rebuffed. The index traded in a narrow five-handle range over the last 20 minutes, giving no clear indication for tonight’s after hours session and Thursday’s pre-Thanksgiving meal trading action.
However, the 4565 area, which splits the closing prices from Monday and Wednesday, will be a key swing area until the index reopens at 6:00 EST PM on Thursday.
Among the top components, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) was the biggest winner. The issue reversed its role from Tuesday, in which it was the biggest loser following the announcement that its founder Jeff Bezos intended on reducing his position in the company. The issue found willing buyers as the stock added $2.81 or 1.95% at the closing price of $146.71. That is the highest level for the issue since April 2022.
This performance was much better than the cash index’s advance of 0.41%.
Surprisingly, Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) following its Q3 beat and raised guidance was the biggest loser. The issue, which has attracted selling interest at the $500 area in three of the last four months, declined by $12.28 or 2.5% at the closing price of $487.15.
