The propensity of the S&P 500 index futures ending the week on the highs or lows played out once again, with the bulls establishing a five-day win streak during Friday’s session.
Even though the overnight session began slightly in the red, the bulls were able to bid up the index futures to stay in the green for the vast majority of the action. At 8:30am EDT, August’s import price index came in slightly under expectations at -0.3% compared to -0.2% exp. The bears were able to knock off a portion (<10 handles) of the overnight gains, but the bulls easily kept the index futures above unchanged.
The regular session began slightly in the green and the bulls were soon testing the premarket high. Among the day’s macro news headlines, September’s Michigan consumer sentiment index came in slightly above expectations, which seemed to add some volatility to the morning’s action. Adding to Friday’s bullish sentiment, the probability of a 50 bp rate cut jumped from 28% to 43% between Thursday and Friday according to the CME FedWatch tool.
Though the bulls were able to keep making new intraday highs, the action turned quite choppy for the rest of the morning. As the afternoon progressed, the index futures established a trading range between the premarket high (5617.75) and the 5640 area. By the final hour, most of the action was taking place towards the lower end of this range, but the bulls were able to tack on a few more handles by the closing bell.
The session concluded in the upper half of the day’s range at 5629.75, gaining 27.50 handles. For the week, that makes for a solid gain of 210.75 handles or 3.89%, signaling some optimism as market participants turn even more of their attention to the FOMC interest-rate decision scheduled for September 18.
For the second day in a row, Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ: AVGO) emerged as the biggest gainer among top components, establishing its own five-day win streak. The chip designer was able to advance by $3.13 or 1.90% to close at $167.69 for the day.
That performance was nearly four times better than the cash index’s advance of 0.52%.
On the other hand, the biggest loser ended up as Eli Lilly And Co (NYSE: LLY). For the day, the healthcare company declined by $11.90 or 1.27% to close at $923.71.
