A pause in the rally on Monday alerted the bears that the recent buying pressure may be subsiding. That, coupled with the S&P 500 index approaching its high for the year attracted some profit takers as well as some interest in the short side of the market.
The possibility of a triple top in the index was reinforced when the futures staged a sharp reversal in premarket trading. The index peaked between Friday’s high (4227.75) and Monday’s high (4221.75) around 10:00 PM EST at 4222.75 Monday night and began to drift lower and were modestly in the red to begin the regular session.
Off the open, the index found sellers well ahead of the close (4205), only reaching 4198.50. Once the index breached Monday’s low for good, the pace of the decline accelerated. The index was able to find support just below last Thursday’s low (4161.25), but well above last Wednesday’s low (4122).
The index limped into the close to decline by 46.25 handles at the closing price 4158.75.
Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) benefitted from a rally in Crude Oil and was the biggest winner of the top components of the index. For the session, the issue added $1.43 or 1.36% to close at $106.40.
That was nearly 2.5% better than the cash index’s decline of 1.12%.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) was the biggest loser of the top components of the index. The issue, which had been higher in 9 of the last 10 sessions, declined by $2.58 or 2.06% to close at $123.29.
