During Wednesday’s session, the S&P 500 index futures reversed their direction once again, being helped along by chip-related issues and stellar bank earnings, such as that from Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS).
Overnight, the bulls and bears tugged the index futures from green to red and back again. Though the bulls were able to maintain more of a lead during premarket hours, the open of the regular session saw the opposite.
Bears quickly tested the premarket low, which was also just above the Monday/Tuesday double-bottom. Support held firm and the bulls fought back with a quick test, and breach, of the premarket high. Sellers weren’t ready to give up, however, and swiftly tested Tuesday’s closing area. Support held and sellers started to give way to the bulls, who initiated a slow and steady rally that would last until the afternoon.
Bulls nearly reached the psychological 5900 level, but bears and profit-takers soon took advantage of the day’s rally during the final hour. The index futures were able to hold onto most of the gains, and ended the session near the day’s high at 5887, gaining 24.25 handles.
As earnings season continues, market participants also have September’s retail report and manufacturing index to look forward to, being reported Thursday morning before the open.
Among the top components of the index, NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) flipped its role from Tuesday and emerged as the biggest gainer. The chip designer was able to advance by $4.12 or 3.13% to close at $135.72 for the day.
That performance was a magnificent seven times better than the cash index’s advance of 0.43%.
On the other hand, the biggest loser was Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META). For the day, the tech conglomerate declined by $9.48 or 1.62% to close at $576.79.
