The S&P 500 index futures experienced a vibrant start in Wednesday’s premarket session, nearly matching the high of the previous day. However, this level proved to be a significant barrier, as the index gradually declined leading up to the open of the regular session.
In the early hours of the session, the bulls made a concerted effort to breach the premarket high, but their advance was curtailed by bearish pressure. Despite this setback, the bulls managed to carve out a pattern of higher lows, a trend that persisted throughout the day’s trading.
The resistance level of 4804-4807, initially tested just after the opening bell, remained a focal point. The bulls revisited this barrier several times during the session, finally breaking through to establish new highs in the latter part of the day.
However, the market’s optimism was tempered by comments from New York Fed President John Williams at 3pm EST. His somewhat hawkish stance on interest rates, suggesting cuts would only occur once inflation is confidently returning to 2%, spurred the bears into action. The index futures dipped, retesting the previously established resistance zone.
In the session’s final 10 minutes, this resistance level transformed into a support point, allowing the bulls to regain some ground and recoup a portion of the final hour’s losses. The index futures ended the day on a positive note, up by 27.50 handles, closing at 4820.25.
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: META) stood out as the day’s biggest gainer among the top S&P 500 components. The tech giant climbed $13.04 or 3.65%, finishing the session at $370.47.
That performance outpaced the cash index’s gain of 0.57% by over three percent.
Conversely, Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) continued to struggle, albeit with a modest loss. The electric vehicle maker saw a decline of $1.02 or 0.43%, closing at $233.94, marking it as the session’s most significant loser among the top components.
