Cementing a four-day win streak, the S&P 500 index futures continued its recent trend of dips being bought up and continuing higher, though the buying during Thursday’s session was not quite as relentless.
Differing from the last two sessions, bulls had control for much of the overnight hours. Even as 8:30am EDT approached, when the Producer Price Index (PPI) data was set to be released, the bulls held onto most of their overnight gains.
| August Report | Actual | Expected | Previous |
| PPI (MoM) | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.0% |
| PPI (YoY) | 1.7% | – | 2.2% |
| Core PPI (MoM) | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.3% |
| Core PPI (YoY) | 3.2% | – | 3.3% |
The bulls and bears battled it out after the PPI print, but it was soon evident the edge would go to the bears. By the time the opening bell rang, the index futures were trading a hair above unchanged. Selling continued as the regular session progressed, but there was soon a clear turn in the action. After bottoming at 5540.25, the dip was quickly bought up and the index was in the green again.
For the remainder of the morning, the index futures chopped and whipped around unchanged. The volatile action calmed down during the lunch hour and it seemed only the bulls returned after the break, as they instigated a rally up to the premarket high and continued higher. The rally plateaued around 5600 until news of a Georgia Judge dismissing three criminal counts in an election interference case against Trump hit the tape. The index futures took a quick dip to the premarket high area and rebounded right back, remaining around 5600 for the rest of the day. The session concluded near the day’s high at 5602.25, tacking on 41 handles.
Among the top components of the index, Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ: AVGO) emerged as the biggest gainer. The chip designer continued its recent momentum, also cementing a four-day win streak, and advanced by $6.29 or 3.97% to close at $164.56 for the day.
That performance was over four times better than the cash index’s advance of 0.84%.
Conversely, the biggest loser ended up being Berkshire Hathaway Inc Class B (NYSE: BRK.B). For the day, the holding company declined by $2.23 or 0.49% to close at $450.87.
