Once again, the S&P 500 stock index futures were flashing green at the opening of the regular session and then unraveled.
As late as 2:30 PM EST, the index was slightly in the green, before the steady march south began. Once the index breached the premarket low of 4509.50, the pace of the decline accelerated. Sellers nudged the index below 4500 for the first time since June 28 and kept on going.
The primary reason being the collapse of the mega cap technology issues (except for Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG)), as many opened higher but then were inundated with sellers.
The index found support ahead of its June 27 low (4371.50), finding buyers at 4378.50, but could not muster much of a rebound off that level.
The end result was a loss of 35.50 handles at the closing price of 4384.50. On a longer-term basis, the index has been lower in 11 of its last 13 sessions. The two outliers were a 40-handle rally on August 7 and a flat session last Wednesday.
Among the top components of the index, Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) was by far the biggest winner. The dual catalyst of trading at a low P/E along with higher oil prices had investors flocking to the issue. For the session, the issue added $2.06 or 1.93% at the closing price of $108.40.
That performance was nearly three percent better than the cash index’s decline of 0.77%.
For the first time in a long time, Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META) was the biggest loser of the top components. The issue extended its losing streak to three sessions, declining $9.20 or 3.13%.
