Thursday’s session in the S&P 500 index futures cemented a five-day losing streak, as fading hopes for a near-term Fed rate cut helped fuel bearish momentum.

Overnight, bulls briefly pushed the index into the green, hitting a high of 6419, but sellers took over before the opening bell. The regular session kicked off with chop, possibly spurred by August’s S&P Global Services and Manufacturing PMIs beating expectations. At 8:00 AM ET, whether it was July’s US Leading Index at -0.1% meeting forecasts, or stronger-than-expected existing home sales, bulls led a short rally, only to stall just below Wednesday’s close. 

Bears regained control before lunch, driving the index near the day’s low of 6370.25 after the lunch hour. That’s also where dip-buyers finally surfaced. Choppy trading capped the session, closing near the regular session open at 6388.25, down 25 handles. 

Market participants can now look forward to Fed Chair Powell’s comments at 10:00 AM ET Friday.

Eli Lilly And Co (NYSE: LLY) snagged a small, yet the biggest win among top components, climbing $4.38, or 0.62%, to close at $709.82.

That outpaced the cash index’s 0.40% drop by over one percent. 

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) slumped as the biggest loser, shedding $3.79, or 1.17%, to close at $320.11.