While investors boosted the index in premarket trading off the earnings beat from Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Intel Corp (NASDAQ: INTC), it was only a mirage.
Also, the index reacted positively to the slightly higher-than-expected inflation reading at 8:30 AM EST until the opening bell. Investors quickly decided that the two positive reports from two of the top mega cap technology companies would not be enough to buoy the index.
The index flirted with holding Thursday’s low, but caved at the conclusion of the lunch hour and picked up momentum on the downside. Heading into the final hour, the index was attempting to steady, but dipped to another new low for the day by a small margin.
In the final fifteen minutes, the index caught a bid and trimmed the losses to 18.75 at the closing price of 4137.75. That brings the loss for the week to 110.25 handles.
Among the top components, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) was the biggest winner by a wide margin. Following a Q3 beat on both the top and bottom line, the issue advanced $8.17 or 6.83% at the closing price of $127.74.
That performance was just over 7 percent better than the cash index’s decline of 0.48%.
Conversely, Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) was the biggest loser of the top components. Following a Q3 miss on the top and bottom line, the issue declined $2.04 or 1.90% at the closing price of $105.56. Despite Crude oil holding up in the mid-$80 handle, the issue has been lower in five of its last six sessions, with one outlier being a small gain of $0.20 on Wednesday. Over that course of time, the issue has fallen from $113.02 to its current level.
