Thursday’s S&P 500 index futures session echoed Tuesday’s volatility, with cooler-than-expected macro data fueling the overall direction, but with multiple swings and trading opportunities for both sides.
Overnight bulls provided a modest lift, marking the session low at 6771.50 and forming a double-bottom with Wednesday’s low. At 8:30 AM ET, November CPI landed softer than forecast, joined by a sharply lower December Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey (-10.2 vs. 2.5 expected). Bulls seized the data and surged past the daily pivot.
| November Report | Actual | Expected | Previous (as of September) |
| CPI (MoM) | – | – | 0.3% |
| CPI (YoY) | 2.7% | 3.1% | 3.0% |
| Core CPI (MoM) | – | – | 0.2% |
| Core CPI (YoY) | 2.6% | 3.0% | 3.0% |
The regular session open brought immediate chop. After early indecision, buyers cleared resistance near 6850 and pushed to a high of 6872. Momentum stalled there until bids collapsed just before lunch, triggering a swift 50-handle drop to daily pivot support. Dip-buyers and short-covering sparked a rebound that fell short of the high. Resistance held again, sending the index futures back to retest the intraday low. Another bounce followed, but late selling hit in the final 10 minutes after imbalances were announced. The regular session closed above the midpoint at 6830.50, up a healthy 52 handles.
Friday features quad witching options expiration, minor macro data at 10:00 AM ET, and a few premarket earnings.
Among top index components, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) flipped its role once again and emerged as the biggest gainer. The AI/EV company rose $16.11 or 3.45% to close at $483.37.
That performance was a fortunate four times better than the cash index’s 0.76% advance.
On the other hand, the biggest loser was Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT). For the day, the retail giant slipped $0.83 or 0.72% to close at $114.83.
