It was not easy, but the S&P 500 index futures ended a four-day losing streak. Over that course of time, the index swooned 159.25 handles on a closing basis (4158.25 to 3999, Wednesday’s close).
The catalyst for today’s rally was a Q1 beat by chip maker Nvidia Corp. That incited a bid in the sector that spilled over into other issues in the technology sector. Also, the energy sector showed strength as Crude Oil futures rebounded from its four day slide.
The bears did put up a fight and managed to wipe out all of the gains from the rally off the opening bell as the index actually made a new low for the decline before rebounding (3974.25 vs. 3983.25).
After a strong rebound off the intraday low, the index appeared it was going to make a new high for the session. However, sellers came in the last fifteen minutes of the session and ended that notion in the upper 4020 handle, ahead of the daily high of 4034.25.
The end result was a modest increase of 19.75 handles with a closing print of 4018.75.
Instigated by a Q1 beat, Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) was by far the biggest winner of the top components of the index. For the session, the issue gained $29.10 or 14% to close at $236.64
That was much better than the cash index’s gain of 0.49%.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) was the biggest loser of the top components. For the session, the issue declined by $0.73 or 0.8% to close at $91.07.