The S&P 500 index futures opened the week lower as fresh tariff headlines kept bears in control during Monday’s session.

Overnight, bears took an early lead before bulls clawed back most of the losses by Monday morning. After the opening bell, bulls charged higher to test resistance at Friday’s close, reaching the session high of 6930.25. Bids struggled to hold there and reversed sharply when reports circulated of a Trump post stating no congressional approval was needed for tariffs and pushing for quicker global tariff hikes. Bears gained additional fuel from December factory orders coming in below expectations at 0.7% versus 0.4% consensus. A steady selloff pushed futures below last week’s triple-bottom area near 6848, bottoming at 6832.75. Bulls then defended that zone for the rest of the session while resistance capped upside in the 6860s. 

One final test of support came in the last 10 minutes before buyers stepped in to buy the dip heading into the close. The session ended in the lower half of the day’s range at 6851.50, down 71.75 handles.

Tuesday brings fedspeak, various minor macro releases and a heavy load of earnings reports morning and afternoon.

Among the top components of the index, Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT) flipped its role from Friday and stood out as the biggest gainer, rising $2.82 or 2.29% to close at $125.81.

That performance was over three percent better than the cash index’s 1.02% decline.

On the other hand, Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) was the biggest loser, dropping $12.76 or 3.21% to close at $384.47.