The S&P 500 index futures, looking to rebound from a two-day losing streak, initiated Tuesday’s session on an upbeat note. The overnight momentum after Monday’s close sustained its positivity until some news prompted caution during the premarket hours early Tuesday morning.
The release of February’s durable goods orders at 8:30am EST, coming in at 1.4% (MoM) against a forecasted 1.2%, momentarily disrupted the bullish trend as speculation of higher rates for longer lingered. This news nudged the index futures down to the 5290 area, a level that became a focal point of the day’s trading activities.
Despite a choppy open that saw the futures oscillating around this level for the rest of the morning, the latter part of the session embodied the market’s recent pattern of late sell-offs. Once it was clear resistance would hold around the 5290 mark, the bears started to gain confidence. The final hour witnessed a sharp decline, marking the index’s first dip into negative territory for the day. A modest recovery effort in the dying minutes of the session proved insufficient to avert a loss of 13 handles, closing at 5265.25.
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) stood out amidst the general market retreat, securing the spot as Tuesday’s most significant gainer among the index’s top components. Bolstered by news of a complimentary Full Self-Driving trial and potential discussions with Italy about electric truck manufacturing, Tesla’s stock advanced $5.04 or 2.92%, closing at $177.67.
That surge significantly outperformed the cash index’s 0.18% decline.
On the other hand, NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) faced a challenging session, leading the day’s losses among top index components. The chipmaker’s stock retreated $24.07 or -2.53%, ending the day at $925.95.
