Once again, the S&P 500 index futures rallied during Thursday’s session but in a change of pace, the bulls were able to hold onto the day’s gains.
Overnight, the bulls started by fending off sellers below Wednesday’s low. Once they made their way back up to unchanged, the bears rejoined the battle to keep the index futures around Wednesday’s closing area. By 8:30am EDT, the bulls had the index trading in the 5230’s, near the premarket high. At that point, last week’s jobless claims came in below expectations (233,000 vs. 240,000), which seemed to give the bulls the impetus to break through resistance, given recent labor market concerns.
The regular session began well in the green, near the 5280 mark. Sellers were eager to take advantage of the premarket pop, taking the index futures back down to test support at the daily pivot. Support held strong, and the bulls took control of the action. The rally encountered resistance near last week’s low, but the bulls broke through after the lunch hour ended and that resistance turned into support for the afternoon.
As the close neared, bears and profit takers tested that support area, but the bulls ultimately won out during the last five minutes. The session concluded near the day’s high at 5348.25, gaining a healthy 120.75 handles. Buying continued after hours as well, pushing the day’s high slightly higher to 5361, nearly matching Wednesday’s high.
Among the top components of the index, Eli Lilly And Co (NYSE: LLY) emerged as the biggest gainer. Their earnings report released Thursday morning included top- and bottom-line beats, as well as raised annual guidance which helped instill investor confidence. The healthcare company was able to advance by $73.17 or 9.48% to close at $845.31 for the day.
That performance was over four times better than the cash index’s advance of 2.31%.
There were no losers among the top components, therefore the smallest winner ended up being Berkshire Hathaway Inc Class B (NYSE: BRK.B). For the day, the holding company gained $4.52 or 1.06% to close at $431.54.
