Starting off a seasonally poor month, the S&P 500 index futures were led lower largely by tech components, and more specifically by NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) and other semiconductors during Tuesday’s session.
During Monday’s abbreviated session (due to the long weekend) and early on in Tuesday’s Globex session, buyers were able to fend off the bears, testing resistance just under 5670. Despite their multiple attempts, the bids couldn’t hold and sellers soon took control. For several hours before Tuesday’s opening bell, the bulls were able to hold support at the weekly pivot, but that started to give way just as the regular session got underway.
The bears had control early on, easily breaching the premarket low and continuing lower. Support was found again in the 5570’s, just above last week’s low, but this level was also breached in the last two hours of the regular session. Already 110+ handles in the red, the volatility picked up even more in the final half hour. Sellers swiftly brought the index futures about 30 handles lower, finding a bottom at 5516.75.
The good news is that buyers and shorts covering their positions brought the index futures back up during the final 15 minutes. The session ended up concluding somewhat above the day’s low at 5541.75, marking a decline of 119.25 handles.
Among the top components of the index, there was only one winner, that being Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK.B). The holding company was able to advance by $0.91 or 0.19% to close at $476.83 for the day.
That performance was over two percent better than the cash index’s decline of 2.06%.
The biggest loser by far was NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA). The company received a subpoena from the DOJ, who are investigating possible antitrust law violations, according to a late-day Bloomberg report. Even before the report came out, the company was in a steady decline intraday. For the day, the chip designer declined by $11.37 or 9.53% to close at $108.00.
