The propensity of the S&P 500 index futures to finish the week on the highs or lows once again played out, and once again, the top components of the index were the ones leading the decline.
In another familiar scenario, the index futures were in the green during early premarket hours. But as this was a quadruple witching day, once opening balances were in, the bears took charge.
The transition from premarket positivity to a tangible bearish grip saw the index futures tumble from unchanged to over 33 handles lower in the half hour leading to the opening bell. Attempts by bulls to reclaim the 5200 mark after the regular session commenced were thwarted by selling pressure, leading to a further descent. After the first hour of trading, the bulls yet again tried to rally above 5200, but could not catch a bid and soon enough the index futures headed back down to make new intraday lows.
The afternoon offered a slight reprieve for the bulls, managing to mitigate some losses but without the usual last-minute rally that could have flipped the day’s narrative. The session closed down 35.25 handles at 5182.75, cementing a weekly decline of 9.65 handles or 0.19%.
JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) stood out as one of the few bright spots among the top index components, securing a 1.24% gain to close at $190.30, with most of the gains coming from a post-open rally.
That performance was nearly two percent better than the cash index’s decline of 0.69%.
Conversely, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) bore the brunt of the quad witch, shedding 2.42% to close at $174.42. The tech giant’s losses were particularly pronounced at the opening, highlighting the day’s heightened volatility and the impact of expiring options and futures on stock movements.
