There are some trading sessions when the S&P 500 index futures barrels through the premarket high or low and continues in that direction. On other days, those levels can be good indicators to measure the index’s appetite for a continuation move.
Unlike Monday’s session, when the index made quick work of the premarket high and kept on going, the premarket high (4797) was bested only by one point early in the session. During the regular session, the bulls were able to defend the close until the lunch hour, when out of the blue the index took a tumble.
Similar to the premarket high, the premarket low was (4773.50) turned out to be a formidable level. The bears were able to take the index three points beyond that, but not for long. Most of the late-afternoon trading found the index straddling 4780, with quick bursts in both directions.
In the final 15 minutes, the index appeared to be heading for a new low, but buyers emerged in the closing minutes despite an imbalance to the sell-side. The closing print (4778.25) put the index lower by four handles.
UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) was the biggest gainer of the top components. For the sixth day in a row, it made a higher-high, higher low along with a higher close. In the last three sessions, it made a new all-time and all-time closing high. It ended the day higher by $3.44 or 0.69%, to close at $502.94.
That was better than the cash index, which was lower by 0.10%.
Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) flipped the script from Monday’s session and had the biggest decline of the top components. The issue snapped a four-day winning streak and declined by $6.23 or 2% to close at $303.22.
