The S&P 500 index futures continued bullish momentum Thursday amid ongoing earnings season, though the session was choppy with frequent reversals.

Overnight, bulls held a modest uplift that faded by the regular open. Sellers drove the index to a low of 7046.50 shortly after the bell, but bulls built support near that level and reclaimed green territory before lunch. The rally continued choppily to a high of 7089, nearly matching the January all-time high in the front-month contract. Unfortunately, bears and profit-takers struck immediately after, pushing back into the red. 

After chopping around unchanged through much of the afternoon, bulls regained momentum in the final hour. The session closed above the day’s midpoint at 7077, up 16.50 handles.

Friday brings a few more earnings reports in the morning and some fedspeak throughout the day.

Among the top components of the index, Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) stood out as the biggest gainer, climbing $9.04 or 2.20% to close at $420.26.

That performance was an excellent eight times better than the cash index’s 0.25% advance.

Conversely, Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) was the biggest loser, falling $3.03 or 1.14% to close at $263.40.