The S&P 500 index futures drifted further from recent all-time highs on Friday in an inside, choppy session, settling back toward the middle of the consolidation range that has dominated most of January.
Overnight, bears applied steady pressure, driving futures to the session low of 6917.50 in the early morning. Dip-buyers and short covering then flipped the momentum decisively higher. December Producer Price Index (PPI) inflation data arrived before the open and initially aided sellers, but a small premarket rally developed.
| December Report | Actual | Expected | Previous |
| PPI (MoM) | 0.5% | 0.3% | 0.2% |
| PPI (YoY) | 3.0% | – | 3.0% |
| Core PPI (MoM) | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.2% |
| Core PPI (YoY) | 3.5% | – | 3.5% |
At the bell, offers were lifted quickly, sparking major chop. Buyers reached a high of 6995 before bids finally faded after the first hour. A choppy decline unfolded through lunch and into the afternoon, testing the premarket low before bulls countered with a swift rally back to the opening range.
The final two hours featured intensified chop as month-end positioning played out. The session closed above the day’s midpoint at 6965.75, down 27 handles or 0.30%. For the week, the index posted a modest gain of 20 handles or 0.29%. For the month, that’s a 73.25-handle or 1.06% gain.
Next week delivers another busy earnings calendar, including several top components Wednesday and Thursday, plus January’s employment report on Friday.
Among top index components, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) led as the biggest gainer, climbing $13.84 or 3.32% to close at $430.41.
That performance was over three percent better than the cash index’s 0.30% decline.
Conversely, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META) was the biggest loser, dropping $21.81 or 2.95% to close at $716.50.
