When the S&P 500 index futures get going in one direction, it is hard to stop it.
The goldilocks scenario, that the economy is still doing well despite the rapid increase in interest rates, coupled with the notion that the Federal will make multiple interest rate cuts in 2024, is alive and well. This is evidenced by the price action over the last five days and more specifically, the last two days.
Following an extremely quiet premarket session that traded almost the entire session in the green, in the regular session, the index only went red by a few handles, before exploding to the upside. Once the Fed announcement was made that rates were going to remain unchanged, the bulls took control.
Ten minutes into the final hour, the index finally peaked some over handles higher on the session at 4764.25 and reversed course. That marked the highest level for the index since March 2022 and had nearly a 30-handle retreat.
Heading into the final thirty minutes of the session, the bulls came back for some more. As a result, the index ended near the high for the session, adding 63.50 handles at the closing price of 4760.75. That marks the highest closing price for the index since March 2022.
Among the top components, Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) was the biggest gainer. For the session, the issue added $12.74 or 2.18% at the closing price of $597.50.
That was much better than the cash index’s gain of 1.37%.
The only loser of the top components was Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) and only had a loss of one cent at the closing price of $374.37.
