The back and forth action in the S&P 500 index futures continues in Tuesday’s session, with a range continuing to be established within last week’s bounds. Additionally, as earnings season continues, many reports that beat expectations still weren’t enough to satisfy the high bar of investors.
Tuesday’s decline started right away during the Globex session, with the bears taking the index futures steadily lower to test Monday’s low by the early morning. The regular session began just above the premarket low, and the bears were quick to test that level once again.
The good news is that the bulls found support at the premarket low right away and never looked back. Though the rally that ensued was choppy, the bulls brought the index futures back into the green in the afternoon, even surpassing the early premarket high by a few handles. Unfortunately, it was at that point that the bulls ran out of steam and bears put up more of a fight.
Oscillating around unchanged during the final hour, it was the bears that ultimately won out. The session concluded in the upper half of the day’s range at 5892.50, losing 3.75 handles.
Among the top components of the index, Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) emerged as the biggest gainer. The tech giant broke out of its recent 14-day range, advancing by $8.73 or 2.08% to close at $427.51 for the day.
That performance was just over two percent better than the cash index’s decline of 0.05%.
Conversely, the biggest loser ended up being Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK.B). For the day, the holding company declined by $2.71 or 0.58% to close at $461.45.
