In the biggest single day decline since December 15, 2022 (on a percentage basis), the S&P 500 index futures were ruled by the bears during Wednesday’s session. The good news is that sellers didn’t hit all the index components, with healthcare and utilities remaining well in the green overall.
Following disappointing earnings reports after Tuesday’s close from Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG, GOOGL), Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) and others, the overnight session began firmly in the red for the index futures. The overnight decline continued into the premarket hours with limited support on the way down. As the opening bell neared, the bulls held the premarket low just above last week’s low of 5542.
Buying continued when the regular session commenced over 50 handles lower, but the bears weren’t deterred for long. Soon enough, the premarket low was breached and selling resumed. The bears maintained their pace until encountering support near July’s previous low of 5502.75. Over the lunch hour, the bulls and bears battled it out around the 5500 area, and it seemed like support might actually hold. Bears had other plans in store, however, as they resumed control again during the penultimate hour of the regular session.
Just as it seemed support would hold in the 5470’s, sellers came in during the last 10 minutes of the session to make new lows. After bottoming at 5462, nearly perfectly matching the June 14 low, the bulls were able to regain some of the late-day losses. The session concluded at 5472, declining by a total of 127.25 handles.
There were no winners among the top components of the index, therefore the smallest loser was Berkshire Hathaway Inc Class B (NYSE: BRK.B). The holding company resisted most of the selloff, declining by $1.21 or 0.28% to close at $432.80 for the day.
That performance was easily better than the cash index’s decline of 2.27%.
The biggest loser for the second day in a row was Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA), by a wide margin. After releasing their Q2 earnings report, which missed on the bottom line and showcased slowing vehicle deliveries, the EV maker declined by $30.39 or 12.33% to close at $215.99.
