The S&P 500 index futures tumbled during Thursday’s session as money rotated out of top tech names into staples and other defensive sectors.

Overnight, bulls held a modest lift just under the 7000 level. After the opening bell, buyers nudged past the premarket high to tag the session peak of 6992.75. From there it was all downhill. Bears and profit-takers took control, first breaking temporary support at Wednesday’s close before driving a relentless selloff that erased about 100 handles in roughly an hour. 

Support finally appeared in the 6870 area and held through most of the morning and afternoon. Unfortunately, sellers returned in the final minutes, punching out more bids and printing the low of 6842 just before the close. The session ended near that low at 6851, down 109.50 handles.

Friday brings more earnings reports mostly in the morning, though the main focus will be January’s CPI data at 8:30 AM ET.

Among the top components of the index, Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT) stood out as the biggest gainer for the second day in a row, climbing $4.87 or 3.78% to close at $133.64 and hitting new all-time highs as investors rotated into safety.

That performance beat the cash index’s 1.54% decline by a fortunate five percent.

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) was the biggest loser, absorbing much of the tech-sector pressure and falling $13.77 or 5.00% to close at $261.73.