What a difference a week can make. One week ago, the bears were gunning for a breach of 4100 and now the bulls are yearning for 4400. The rally marks the first five-day winning streak since late June/early July.
Look no further than the bond market or the related ETF, iShs 20+Treasury Bond ETF (NASDAQ: TLT), which had its best week in months. Much ado to the dovish tone investors took from Federal Reserve Bank Jerome Powell’s Q/A period following the bank’s decision to leave rates unchanged.
During premarket trading, the index refused to buckle even with one its top components Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), under selling pressure following its Q4 report.
The index went green for good at 8:30 AM EST following a non-farm payrolls rise, which was less than expected in October. By the opening of the regular session, the index was void of sellers and the bulls were in firm control until the final thirty minutes of the session, when the index peaked just under 4400 at 4391.75.
The end result was a gain of 40.25 handles at the closing price of 4376. For the week, the index futures leaped 238.25 handles or 5.8%.
Among the top components, Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) was the biggest winner. For the session, the issue added $450.05 or 3.45%. For the week, the issue gained $45.05 or 11%.
That was over two percent better than the cash index’s advance of 0.94%.
Conversely, Eli Lilly Inc. (NYSE: LLY) was the biggest loser. One day removed from a $25 gain on Thursday following its Q3 report, investors rung the register. For the session, the issue declined $12.48 or 2.2% at the closing price of $567.81.
