Even amongst another heavy earnings week, the S&P 500 index futures were primed for a choppy session until the FOMC interest-rate decision was announced Wednesday afternoon. And that’s just what happened with the action in the index futures.
With less than a 28-handle range established during premarket hours, all below Tuesday’s close, the index futures chopped around within those two premarket levels during the regular session. The chop continued until the FOMC decision was released at 2pm EDT, when the index futures finally tested resistance at the premarket high. But it wasn’t until Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech that the bulls really kicked into gear.
As per usual, not much new was said as Powell delivered his subsequent speech and comments during the Q&A period. Some remarks hinted that 3 rate cuts this year may not be possible, that the Fed “Needs more confidence” before that can happen. Additionally, while no one economic data point will greatly affect the FOMC rate decision, a whole [Q1] worth of data indicating inflation is still well above their 2% target points to higher rates for longer.
Perhaps this information was already priced into the index, as the bulls soon took the reins and stampeded their way up through the premarket high and started to close in on Tuesday’s high. However, the rally stalled out in the 5120’s just as Powell started to give fewer dovish, and more hawkish comments. The bears soon were back into control, and the gains from the bull rally were quickly erased in the final hour of the session. For the day, the index futures lost 20.50 handles, to close somewhat near the lows at 5046.50.
Among the top components of the index, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) emerged as the biggest gainer following positive Q1 earnings released after Tuesday’s close, beating EPS and revenue estimates. The e-commerce enterprise was able to advance by $3.86 or 2.21% to close at $178.86 for the day.
That performance was over two percent better than the cash index’s decline of 0.32%.
On the other hand, the biggest loser was Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ: AVGO). Though the company didn’t release an earnings report themselves, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) released their Q1 report after Tuesday’s close, which included much lower forecasts for AI chip sales in 2024. For the day, Broadcom declined by $57.41 or 4.42% to close at $1242.86 as investors adjusted their expectations for the rest of the year.
