Those looking for an opportunity to buy a dip in the S&P 500 index futures certainly got their chance Tuesday morning, if only for a minute.
Inflation data came in hot at 8:30am EDT, instigating a 30+ handle swoon in less than a minute. April’s Producer Price Index (PPI) came in at 0.5% (MoM) compared to 0.3% expected, putting the year-over-year figure at 2.2%. Core PPI was also higher at 0.4% (MoM) compared to 0.2% expected, or 3.1% YoY. That was not the end of it, as March’s MoM PPI figure was revised from 0.2% to -0.1%.
Once the revised figure was taken into account, buyers quickly stepped in and took the index futures back up to unchanged before long. The recovery, although choppy, continued past the opening bell and started to near Friday/Monday’s high (5264) by the end of the first hour. By this time, Fed Chair Jerome Powell had taken the stage and was delivering a mix of comments, including “U.S. Fiscal Policy is on an unsustainable path,” as well as “The [Fed’s current] policy is working.” Both the bulls and bears were able to instigate 10+ handle swings during Powell’s speech, bringing the index futures back down to test support at Monday’s closing level several times.
It wasn’t until the final two hours that the bulls were able to maintain a bid and break through to make new intraday highs. Once Monday’s high was breached, the resistance level turned into support, and the bulls were able to extend the rally slightly beyond that level. The day concluded near the highs at 5269.50, advancing by 24 handles.
Among the top components of the index, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) emerged as the biggest gainer for the second day in a row. The EV manufacturer was able to advance by $5.66 or 3.29% to close at $177.55 for the day.
That performance was over seven times better than the cash index’s advance of 0.46%.
The biggest, and only loser among top components ended up being Berkshire Hathaway Inc Class B (NYSE: BRK.B). For the day, the holding company declined by $1.01 or 0.25% to close at $410.24.
