After Thursday’s session, it seemed the S&P 500 index futures were slated to finish the week near one end of the week’s range (the lows), as it often does. Rather, the index futures finished nearly perfectly in the middle of the weekly range.
Instead of Fedspeak ruling the day (though there was some), it was March’s jobs data that took the driver’s seat. Released at 8:30am EST, US unemployment and hourly wages came within expectations (3.8%, 0.3%, respectively), but it was nonfarm payrolls that beat expectations by more than 50% (303,000 vs. 200,000 exp.) that gave the bulls an edge.
There was a momentary dip to unchanged in the premarket session once the jobs data was released, but the bulls soon had the index futures back up for a green open. The rally continued after the open, and after overcoming resistance at the daily pivot, the rally was back on. After peaking early in the afternoon, the bears gained some ground, but the bulls kept the index futures well in the green and above the VWAP as well.
In the final 30 minutes of the session, the bulls tried to instigate a rally but selling pressure prevented them from gaining any ground. The session concluded in the upper end of the day’s range, advancing 55.75 handles, closing at 5253. For the week, that makes for a total loss of 51.25 handles or 0.97%.
Among the top components of the index, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META) was one of the few that held up after Thursday’s selloff, and emerged as the biggest gainer for Friday’s session. An analyst price target raise gave the issue some steam, and was able to advance by $16.42 or 3.21% to close at $527.34 for the day, making for a new all-time closing high.
That performance was over 3 times better than the cash index’s advance of 1.04%.
Reversing its role from Thursday, the biggest loser ended up being Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA). A Reuters report about the electric carmaker canceling its plans for a low-cost car took the issue sharply lower in morning trading. A tweet from Musk dismissed the article, but the issue was still unable to recover all the losses by the close. For the day, the issue declined by $6.21 or 3.63% to close at $164.90. Musk’s tweets continued after the close, adding that the company plans to unveil its Robotaxi service on August 8, 2024. As of writing this article, the stock has since regained the day’s losses and then some in after hours trading.
