Monday’s S&P 500 index futures session extended the recent pullback as year-end positioning kept pressure on the tape.

Overnight bears took control early, capping the high at 6984.75 Sunday evening and driving a steady decline into the regular session. Dip-buyers briefly stepped in at the open, trimming losses for a few minutes before sellers regained the upper hand. Morning chop gave way to another leg lower, reaching a lunch-hour low of 6936.

Bulls then defended and mounted a modest relief rally that held into the final hour. Late selling erased much of the recovery. The regular session closed below the midpoint at 6955, down 24.25 handles.

Tuesday brings the December FOMC meeting minutes at 2:00 PM ET, with no notable earnings scheduled.

Among top index components, Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT) emerged as the biggest gainer. The retail giant rose $0.79 or 0.71% to close at $112.53.

That performance was over one percent better than the cash index’s 0.36% decline.

Conversely, the biggest loser was Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) for the second day in a row. For the day, the AI/EV company fell $15.55 or 3.27% to close at $459.64.