Tuesday’s session in the S&P 500 index futures teased a turnaround, but the bears’ grip held firm. 

Over premarket trading, bulls clung to a stout 150-handle rally, carrying those gains into the opening bell. Sellers and profit-takers briefly stalled the overnight push, only for bulls to regroup and test Monday’s high. They nudged past it, peaking at 5305.25, but the rally soon unraveled.

Whether spooked by profit-taking, fresh bearish positions, or US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer’s comments that China “hasn’t indicated it wants to work towards reciprocity,” the index futures started to shed all its early gains. Bulls scrambled to defend the unchanged line, but sellers shoved it into the red. 

The slide dragged on until the final 10 minutes, when buyers and shorts covering pulled it back from the day’s low of 4940.50. The session closed in the lower half of the range at 5020.25, down 77 handles. Wednesday brings the March FOMC Meeting Minutes at 2:00 PM ET for market participants to chew on.

Among the index’s top components, Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ: AVGO) snagged the biggest gainer spot, buoyed by a $10 billion stock buyback plan. The chip designer climbed $1.89, or 1.23%, to close at $156.03.

That small gain still outpaced the cash index’s 1.57% drop by nearly three percent.

For the second day running, Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) slumped as the biggest loser. The tech giant shed $9.04, or 4.98%, closing at $172.42, locking in a grim 22.8% five-day losing streak.