The big earnings week continues with the largest trading range (handles-wise) seen since Dec 13, 2022 and the worst percentage loss since last Wednesday in the S&P 500 index futures. The volatility is also expected to continue as market participants evaluate Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Amazon.com, Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) earnings after Thursday’s close, along with July’s US Employment report and other large component earnings being released Friday morning.
Thursday’s Globex open started with some bullish followthrough from Wednesday night earnings, but the bulls were unable to maintain a bid above Wednesday’s high by the early morning. After support held strong at July’s closing level, the bulls were eager to test the premarket high once again. Off the opening bell, they got their wish and slightly exceeded the premarket high. However, resistance near the psychological 5600 level was too much and the bulls backed off. After peaking at 5600.75, sellers soon had full control and initiated a steady selloff that would last most of the day.
Some support was seen near the 5500 area, but sellers soon cut through that as well. More substantial support came in near Wednesday’s low, though the bears were able to extend the index futures down to 5444.75. From that point, buyers were able to claw back some of the day’s losses, continuing their buying into the close. The session still concluded in the lower third of the day’s range at 5480.25, losing 77.75 handles. As of time of writing, sellers came back during after hours trading following a somewhat disappointing report and lowered guidance from Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and an okay report from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL).
Among the top components of the index, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META) emerged as the biggest gainer after holding onto most of its post-earnings gains. The tech conglomerate was able to advance by $22.91 or 4.82% to close at $497.74 for the day.
That performance was over six percent better than the cash index’s decline of 1.42%.
Among many other chip stock drops, the biggest loser ended up being Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ: AVGO). For the day, the chip designer declined by $13.66 or 8.50% to close at $147.02.
