In another 100+ handle range session, the S&P 500 index futures spent plenty of time both in the red and in the green Thursday, but ended up establishing a three-day losing streak by the end of the day.
The bulls may have started with the upper hand during the overnight session, but after more chop and whipsaw moves, weren’t able to maintain their gains by the regular session open. One of those quick moves was instigated by economic news at 8:30am EDT, including Q2’s GDP coming in at 2.8%, above a 2.1% expectation, as well as June’s durable goods orders coming in at -6.6%, well below expectations of 0.3%. The subsequent dip was quickly bought up and then some, but those gains were soon given up as well
The regular session opened near unchanged, and was soon controlled by the bears who drove the index futures past the premarket low. Support was found at 5432.50, and the quick dip was bought up just as swiftly. Buying continued, and after pausing at the premarket high, then the daily pivot level, continued nearly straight up into the 5500’s. The rally slowed as the lunch hour came to a close, peaking at 5533.25. Unfortunately for the bulls, the index futures plummeted straight back down to unchanged on the day.
Not giving up, the bulls initiated another rally off Wednesday’s closing area, nearly reaching 5500 once again. Alas, it was sellers that would have the final word as the index futures swooned 50 handles to close near the day’s low during the last 30 minutes of the session, concluding at 5441.25. This marked a decline of 30.75 handles for the day.
Among the top components of the index, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) flipped its role from Wednesday and emerged as the biggest gainer. The EV maker was able to gain back some of its post-earnings losses, advancing by $4.26 or 1.97% to close at $220.25 for the day.
That performance was over two percent better than the cash index’s decline of 0.52%.
On the other hand, the biggest loser was Eli Lilly And Co (NYSE: LLY), far underperforming the broader healthcare sector’s performance. The increasing obesity drug competition continues to put a damper on Eli Lilly’s future potential, with Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) announcing a late-stage trial for its drug later this year. For the day, Eli Lilly declined by $38.69 or 4.50% to close at $821.19.
