As market participants await Friday’s ever important inflation data, the S&P 500 index futures lacked a sustained direction by the end Wednesday’s session. The action took place within this week’s range so far; below the all-time closing high and above Tuesday’s low, but still provided for trading opportunities with plenty of mid-day swings in both directions.
By Wednesday morning’s early premarket hours, the bulls had already pushed the index futures past Tuesday’s high until resistance was encountered in the 5550 area. Peaking at 5551.75, sellers started to pile on. And pile on they did. Support wasn’t found until the 5520 area, where the regular session commenced. After testing support at the premarket low, some bulls were able to initiate a choppy rally, but came up short of Tuesday’s close. After support was tested once again around the premarket low, the rest of the bulls showed up by the start of the lunch hour.
Shortly after going green for the first time intraday, the bears came back into the mix, keeping the index futures in the red for most of the afternoon. Nearing the close, buyers showed up in a big way during the final 10 minutes, taking the index up near the premarket high. Unfortunately for them, sellers were eager to take advantage of the late-day rally in the final minute of the session, quickly erasing most of the last-minute gains. The session concluded above midrange on the day at 5543.50, gaining 6.50 handles.
Among the top components of the index, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) emerged as the biggest gainer. The EV maker was able to break out of its recent range made during May and June, advancing by $9.02 or 4.81% to close at $196.37 for the day.
That performance was a sporty 40 times better than the cash index’s advance of 0.12%.
On the other hand, the biggest loser ended up being Eli Lilly And Co (NYSE: LLY). For the day, the healthcare company declined by $3.35 or 0.37% to close at $901.26, coming up short of its all-time highs made one day prior.
