Friday’s session in the S&P 500 index futures lived up to their propensity for ending the week on extremes, this time carving out fresh lows and establishing a three-day losing streak. Overnight, sellers pushed below Thursday’s low, but bulls dug in around 5710. At 8:30 AM ET, February’s Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) inflation data came out as follows:
| February Report | Actual | Expected | Previous |
| PCE Index (MoM) | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.3% |
| PCE Index (YoY) | 2.5% | 2.5% | 2.5% |
| Core PCE Index (MoM) | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.3% |
| Core PCE Index (YoY) | 2.8% | 2.7% | 2.7% |
The slightly hotter-than-anticipated core figures sparked some selling, though bulls still clung to support near 5710. Once the regular session kicked off, the tug-of-war between bulls and bears raged briefly. No clear victor emerged at first, but the bears soon seized control. After cracking the premarket low of 5710.50, the floodgates opened. The index futures plunged about 50 handles in the first hour and kept bleeding all day, with scant support in sight. Bulls finally drew a line at 5620, a level tested relentlessly over the final three hours.
The session closed near the day’s low at 5623, a brutal drop of 116.25 handles. After-hours selling piled on, dragging the index to 5602.25, near the psychological 5600 mark and the March 14 low of 5589.45. For the week, that comes a loss of 95.25 handles, or 1.67%. More volatility is expected Monday as traders, investors, and portfolio managers juggle end-of-month and Q1 rebalancing.
Among the index’s top components, Eli Lilly And Co (NYSE: LLY) stood out as the biggest gainer for the day. The healthcare company edged up $1.06, or 0.13%, to close at $822.51.
That slight gain still outpaced the cash index’s 2.01% tumble by over two percent.
On the flip side, Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL) took the heaviest blow among top components. The search giant cratered $7.91, or 4.88%, closing at $154.33, battered by the day’s relentless sell-off.
