The S&P 500 index futures have officially ended its streak of making new all-time highs and have formed a triple-top at those previous highs.
Reports that the US government was mulling tighter curbs on exports of advanced semiconductors to China put a damper on top components as well as the index futures during overnight trading. By the time the regular session began, the index futures were more than 60 handles lower from Tuesday’s close.
Once the opening bell rang, the bulls started to buy up the dip, preventing a breach of the premarket low. The buying didn’t last long however, as the premarket low was soon breached. While the morning’s action was somewhat choppy, sellers were firmly in control. Support was finally found in the 5630’s, where the index futures more or less chopped around for the remainder of the day’s action.
Coming into the close, the bulls tried to initiate one last round of buying during the penultimate five minutes, but the bears were able to prevent any bullish progress. The session marked a swoon of 78.25 handles, concluding near the lows at 5639.
JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) emerged as the biggest gainer among top components for the third day in a row. The banking behemoth advanced by another $3.28 or 1.54% to close at $216.87 for the day, marking new all-time and all-time closing highs for the issue.
That performance was over two percent better than the cash index’s decline of 1.40%.
Tech- and especially chip-focused issues took the biggest hit in Wednesday’s session, and the biggest loser among top components ended up being Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ: AVGO). For the day, the chip designer declined by $13.40 or 7.91% to close at $155.98.
