Friday’s S&P 500 index futures session capped the week and month with more volatility, as bulls and bears traded blows amid a roaring earnings season, ending with a modest gain.

Overnight, positive reactions to key component earnings lifted index futures around the psychological 6900 level. Bulls attempted a premarket rally before the open, peaking at 6918.50 before fading. The regular session opened near 6900, with sellers quickly taking charge and pushing lower. Bulls resisted, but pressure mounted, driving new lows over the lunch hour. Dip-buyers emerged in the afternoon, bottoming at 6843.50 near last week’s high and fueling a steady afternoon recovery. 

The rally held until the last half hour, when month-end position adjustments favored sellers. The session closed below the day’s midpoint at 6874, up 18.50 handles, for a weekly gain of 47 handles or 0.69% and a monthly advance of 135.25 handles or 2.01%.

Next week brings a ton more earnings, October’s ADP employment report, some fedspeak, and, if the government shutdown ends, the October jobs report.

Among top index components, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) led as the biggest gainer, surging $21.36 or 9.58% to close at $244.22, hitting new all-time highs after a top-line beat, massive bottom-line beat, analyst upgrades, and promising AWS growth.

For those keeping track, that outperformed the cash index’s 0.33% advance by over 29 times. 

Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META) was the biggest loser for the second straight day, falling $18.12 or 2.72% to close at $648.35, extending a three-day losing streak with a total drop exceeding $100.