The S&P 500 index futures saw its seven-day win streak come to an end Friday with a small loss, though the week still delivered a very solid gain overall as both bulls and bears had their moments.
| March Report | Actual | Expected | Previous |
| CPI (MoM) | 0.9% | 0.9% | 0.3% |
| CPI (YoY) | 3.3% | 3.3% | 2.4% |
| Core CPI (MoM) | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.2% |
| Core CPI (YoY) | 2.6% | 2.7% | 2.5% |
Overnight trading stayed fairly quiet near unchanged as traders waited for the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report in the morning. The inflation data came in roughly in line with estimates though still quite elevated. Index futures popped quickly to a high of 6888 before sellers stepped in just as fast, but bulls kept the index futures in the green initially. After the opening bell, bears quickly shut down another short-lived rally and pushed toward unchanged. Bulls defended support at Thursday’s close and started to claw back toward the premarket high. However, late-morning reports that Trump was preparing the military in case Iran peace talks fail seemed to take the wind out of the rally.
Bears seized control, pushed into the red, and set the low at 6846.25 just after the lunch hour. Bulls defended that low, but struggled to generate much upside for the rest of the afternoon. The session closed near the day’s low at 6855.25, down 8 handles. For the week that still adds up to a healthy gain of 233 handles or 3.52%.
Monday kicks off earnings season in earnest with a big bank reporting among a few others in the morning.
Among the top components of the index, Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ: AVGO) stood out as the biggest gainer, climbing $16.64 or 4.69% to close at $371.55.
That performance was a fortunate four percent better than the cash index’s 0.07% decline.
Conversely, Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT) was the biggest loser, falling $2.34 or 1.81% to close at $126.79.
