The S&P 500 Index Futures made modest gains in today’s session, with bulls dominating the day’s trading activity. The open (4536.75) was virtually the low of the day, setting the stage for a steady uptrend that was largely driven by strong performances in the technology and financial sectors. With earnings season starting, these sectors provided much of the upward momentum.
Throughout the day, the S&P 500 Index saw a persistent climb, even managing to surpass Friday’s high in the last hour of trading. Unfortunately, profit-taking activities in the final hour of the session erased nearly half of the day’s gains from the peak of 4565.75. This is likely due to investors capitalizing on their gains ahead of more bank and tech earnings releases scheduled for this week. Notably, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCHW), and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) are set to announce their earnings tomorrow morning.
Despite this last-minute selling pressure, the index managed to close at 4553.75, marking a gain of 17 handles for the day.
Among the top components, Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) took the crown as the day’s biggest winner. Ahead of its quarterly earnings report scheduled for Wednesday and following some news over the weekend, the electric vehicle manufacturer saw a solid 3.20% or $9.00 gain, closing at $290.39. This is Tesla’s highest closing price since September 2022.
That was nearly 10 times the cash index’s increase of 0.37% for the day.
On the other side of the spectrum, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) ended the day as the biggest loser among the top components. The e-commerce behemoth saw its share price decline by 0.83% or $1.12, closing the day at $133.56.
