Tuesday’s S&P 500 index futures session delivered some CPI-fueled volatility, briefly hitting new all-time highs before sellers took control.
| December Report | Actual | Expected | Previous |
| CPI (MoM) | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.3% |
| CPI (YoY) | 2.7% | 2.7% | 2.7% |
| Core CPI (MoM) | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.2% |
| Core CPI (YoY) | 2.6% | 2.8% | 2.6% |
Overnight trading stayed calm and slightly red as participants awaited the CPI release. Core CPI came in below expectations, triggering aggressive buying from algos and bulls that rocketed the index futures straight to a new all-time high of 7036.25. That peak marked the turning point. Bids collapsed almost immediately, erasing nearly all the gains by the regular-session open.
Support at Monday’s close gave way early, and bears drove the index futures lower until finding a floor near 6980. A rebound retested unchanged, but former support turned into resistance, and sellers flipped momentum again. The final hour saw a fresh low of 6976.75 before late dip-buyers stepped in to trim losses. The regular session closed below the day’s midpoint at 7001.75, down 14.75 handles.
Wednesday brings the delayed November PPI at 8:30 AM ET, scattered fedspeak, the Fed Beige Book at 2:00 PM ET, and more bank earnings in the morning.
Among top index components, Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT) emerged as the biggest gainer for the second straight day. The retail giant rose $2.39 or 2.03% to close at $120.36, reaching fresh all-time highs.
That performance was over two percent better than the cash index’s 0.20% decline.
For the second consecutive day, the biggest loser was Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META). For the day, the tech conglomerate fell $10.88 or 1.69% to close at $631.09.
