In the largest daily range this week, Friday’s session in the S&P 500 index futures tested, and helped form, key resistance and support levels to watch for the near term. Not only was it the final day of the month and quarter, market participants also got a chance to digest the most recent inflation data in the form of the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index.
Starting overnight, the bulls were in control for the most part. Thursday night’s presidential debates also helped give a slight uplift once those concluded. Just before 8:30am EDT when the PCE data was set to be released, the index futures were holding above the all-time closing high. In short, May’s PCE Index was in line with expectations. The PCE Index came in at 0.0% (MoM), and Core PCE Index at 0.1%. That made for a Year-over-Year increase of 2.6% for both. After a quick pop off the data release, the bears swiftly took back control of the index futures, erasing most of the overnight and premarket gains.
The regular session commenced in the green, and after a quick test of the premarket low, the bulls took back the reins. Partially assisted by June’s consumer sentiment being revised above expectations as well as June’s Chicago PMI coming in above expectations, the bulls initiated a relentless rally. Breaking through the premarket high with ease, the bulls were eager to test the all-time high of 5588. However, sellers started to pile in before that level, stopping the rally at 5585. It was all downhill from that point.
The bulls tried to hold support near Thursday’s close as they had done during the overnight hours, but were ultimately unsuccessful. Support wasn’t found until the penultimate 15 minutes of the session in the 5511 area, nearly matching the week’s low made on Monday. During the late-day volatility, the bulls were quick to claw back some of the day’s losses as the session drew to a close.
As is typical at the end of a month and quarter, there was plenty of closing order volume. The imbalances weren’t quite as extreme as might be expected, leaning only $1.9B to the buy side. When the dust settled, the session concluded near the day’s lows at 5521.50, declining by 24.50 handles. For the week, that makes for a loss of 12.75 handles or 0.23%. For the month, a gain of 163.75 handles or 3.06%. And for the quarter, a gain of 154.50 handles or 2.88% for the front month contract.
Among the top components of the index, JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) emerged as the biggest gainer. The banking behemoth was able to advance by $3.09 or 1.55% to close at $202.26 for the day.
That performance was nearly two percent better than the cash index’s decline of 0.39%.
On the other hand, the biggest loser ended up being Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META). For the day, the tech conglomerate declined by $15.34 or 2.95% to close at $504.22.
