It was a tale of two markets in the final session of the week and quarter. While the premarket and a good portion of the regular session was positive, it did not hold up.
Instead, investors as well as fund managers took the opportunity to lighten up after the nearly 100-handle rally off Wednesday’s low. Heading into lunchtime, the index was sporting a nice gain, but then became unraveled.
Once the index started heading the south, the looming shutdown of the government was a strong catalyst to the downside. After being green by 30+ handles, the index almost went red by over 20 handles.
Heading into the final hour, the bleeding was stopped and the index was able to settle off the low for the session. On the day, the index shed 12 handles at the closing price of 4325.50.
That brings the loss for the week to a manageable 35.50 handles. For the month, on the front month contract, the loss comes to 240 handles.
For the quarter, the decline is just under the monthly total at 212.25 handles.
Among the top components of the index, Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was the biggest winner for the second day in a row. For the session, the issue added $3.84 or 1.56% at the closing price of $250.22.
This performance was nearly two percent better than the cash index’s decline of 0.27%.
For the first time in a long time, Berkshire Hathaway “B” (NYSE: BRK.B) was the biggest loser of the top components. The issue had its worst day in months by declining $6.76 or 1.89% at the closing price of $350.30.
