After Thursday’s session saw the S&P 500 index futures make new all-time highs, bulls were a bit more cautious coming into Friday as PCE and other economic data were set to be released.
Overnight, the bulls and bears battled it out with neither group emerging as a significant winner. By 8:30am EDT, just before the myriad of economic data was released, the index futures just broke into green territory. August’s Personal Income and Personal Spending came in slightly below expectations (0.2% vs. 0.4% exp. and 0.2% vs. 0.3% exp., respectively) and Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) data came out as follows:
| August Report | Actual | Expected | Previous |
| PCE Index (MoM) | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| PCE Index (YoY) | 2.2% | 2.3% | 2.5% |
| Core PCE Index (MoM) | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| Core PCE Index (YoY) | 2.7% | 2.7% | 2.6% |
Bulls were able to initiate a small rally to make new premarket highs, but sellers stifled any significant progress. As the regular session began, bears were quick to test Thursday’s closing level, and support held firm. An ensuing rally took the index futures past the premarket high, but not by much as the bears soon took control of the action.
Once Thursday’s close was breached, that support level turned into resistance for the rest of the day. Support was once again found near the premarket low, but the bears were able to breach that level during the final two hours of the regular session. Stops were run, but the buy-the-dip crowd was ready and held the index futures above Thursday’s low, initiating a quick rebound.
The remainder of the session was spent in the red, with sellers adding to the decline in the final hour. The session concluded in the lower half of the day’s range at 5791.25, losing 13.25 handles. For the week, that still makes for a small gain of 29.25 handles or 0.51%.
Among the top components of the index, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) easily emerged as the biggest gainer. The EV maker was able to advance by $6.24 or 2.45% to close at $260.46 for the day.
That performance was over two percent better than the cash index’s decline of 0.15%.
The biggest loser ended up being Eli Lilly And Co (NYSE: LLY). For the day, the healthcare company declined by $31.53 or 3.47% to close at $877.79.
