There was plenty of selling during Thursday’s session in the S&P 500 index futures after the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data was released. However, there was also plenty of buying, but not in the leading components of the index.
Flipping their recent role during the overnight Globex session, it was the bears that held resistance below Wednesday’s all-time closing high. They were able to maintain selling pressure until just before the CPI data was released at 8:30am EDT. June’s CPI came in better than expected, as per the below, and the bulls took their turn.
| June Report | Actual | Expected | Previous |
| CPI (MoM) | -0.1% | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| CPI (YoY) | 3.0% | 3.1% | 3.3% |
| Core CPI (MoM) | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| Core CPI (YoY) | 3.3% | 3.4% | 3.4% |
It was a quick pop to all-time highs, with buying continuing into the 5700’s. After peaking at 5707.75, nearly perfectly at R1 (5708.75), sellers were eager to hit the bid. The index futures subsequently headed straight back down towards Wednesday’s close. Even as the opening bell rang, the bulls weren’t able to advance much past the all-time closing high, and the bears emerged once again. Slicing through most support with ease, the index futures swooned about 50 handles before lunch.
Support near Wednesday’s low held for the rest of the trading session, with the lowest print being 5630. The bulls and bears continued to battle it out between 5650 and that level until the closing bell, where the session finally concluded at 5639.75, losing 48.25 handles.
Among the top components of the index, Berkshire Hathaway Inc Class B (NYSE: BRK.B) emerged as the biggest gainer. The value-focused holding company was able to advance by $4.99 or 1.21% to close at $418.78 for the day.
That performance was over two percent better than the cash index’s decline of 0.86%.
Breaking its winning streak in spectacular fashion, the biggest loser was Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA). Along with general weakness for tech-focused stocks, reports of Tesla’s Robotaxi event being delayed from August to October had traders hitting the bid. For the day, the EV maker declined by $22.23 or 8.44% to close at $241.03.
