During Wednesday’s session, the S&P 500 index futures gave up all the progress made so far this week as hot inflation data and Middle East tension headlines ruled the day.
| February Report | Actual | Expected | Previous |
| PPI (MoM) | 0.7% | 0.3% | 0.5% |
| PPI (YoY) | 3.4% | 2.9% | 2.9% |
| Core PPI (MoM) | 0.5% | 0.3% | 0.4% |
| Core PPI (YoY) | 3.9% | 3.7% | 3.4% |
Overnight, index futures climbed back to Tuesday’s high, peaking at 6814. Then the bears took over early morning as reports emerged of Trump urging allies to assume the US role in the Strait of Hormuz. February’s PPI data came in hotter than expected, accelerating the decline to find support near 6730. After the opening bell, bulls attempted to buy the dip, but resistance proved too strong. Following early chop, bears regained control and pushed to new lows.
The FOMC’s widely expected decision to leave rates unchanged seemed to trigger another leg lower in the afternoon. That came along with Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s somewhat hawkish tone during the press conference left bulls absent. The decline continued steadily into the close, settling at 6677, down 96.25 handles. After hours, the selling extended further, reaching a low of 6654.50 and forming a double-bottom with Monday’s low.
Thursday brings minor macro data in the morning and a few earnings reports morning and evening.
Among the top components of the index, NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) emerged as the smallest loser after there were no winners. The chip designer declined by $1.53 or 0.84% to close at $180.40.
That performance was over two percent better than the cash index’s 1.40% decline.
On the other hand, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) was the biggest loser, falling $5.33 or 2.48% to close at $209.87.
