In remembrance, we would like to share our deepest condolences to all those affected by 9/11. On the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, market participants paused to reminisce and bears mostly took the day off during Friday’s session in the S&P 500 index futures, which recovered a portion of the week’s losses.
Bulls once again opened overnight trading with a small lift, but this time they set an early low at 7594.25 and climbed slowly from there. August’s Consumer Price Index data arrived mostly in line with expectations, with Core CPI running slightly hot (0.3% MoM vs. 0.2% expected). Off the report, bears and selling algos took the index futures for a quick dip, but that was bought up just as quickly to stay comfortably in the green, and soon the bulls launched a small rally to new highs. After topping out at a high of 7683.50, a level wedged in between Monday’s close and Tuesday’s high, the action settled into chop just beneath it.
The regular session began, and it delivered more of the same chop. Before lunch, bears tried to initiate a selloff, but support held near the 7650 area and bulls marched the index futures right back into the opening chop range. For much of the afternoon, the action stayed fairly calm just beneath the high, but over the final two hours buyers seemed to evaporate. Sellers did not press much either, leaving a smooth, slow decline into the bell.
The session concluded above the day’s midpoint at 7659.50, gaining 61 handles. For the week, that amounts to a modest loss of 62.5 handles, or 0.81%.
Monday, market participants can look forward to a break from planned macro news and only a couple of notable earnings reports, in the morning and the evening.
Among the top components of the index, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) emerged as the biggest gainer. The e-commerce giant advanced by $4.89 or 1.94% to close at $256.78 for the day.
That performance was over twice the cash index’s advance of 0.85%.
Conversely, the only decliner, and therefore the biggest loser among the top components, ended up being NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) for the second day in a row. For the day, the chip designer declined by $0.07 or 0.03% to close at $218.29.
