Bears nudged the S&P 500 index futures lower on Tuesday as recent resistance near the psychological 7600 level came back into play, though they managed only a modest decline. The session marked the third day running with a high pinned near that level.

Overnight, the high of 7601.25 was printed almost immediately, and from there bears and other sellers ground the index futures steadily lower. The regular session opened slightly in the red, and when bulls tried to test Monday’s close, they were promptly denied, prompting sellers to pile on. A fairly sharp decline dragged the index futures down toward Monday’s low, bottoming at 7529.50 before bulls finally held a bid.

Around the lunch hour, bears appeared to take some profits and bulls bounced back to reclaim a portion of the morning’s losses, with support holding in the 7560s. Bulls could make little progress from there, and in the afternoon reports that the US would reinstate Iran oil sanctions following oil tanker attacks handed bears fresh fodder. They soon broke support and pushed the index futures back toward the lows, before buyers stepped in with a last-minute rally to pare some of the damage. The session concluded below the day’s midpoint at 7551.25, losing 40.25 handles.

Wednesday, market participants can look forward to the minutes of June’s FOMC meeting at 2:00 PM ET, along with a few more earnings reports in the morning and evening.

Among the top components of the index, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META) emerged as the biggest gainer. The tech conglomerate advanced by $15.29 or 2.55% to close at $615.58 for the day.

That performance was over three percent better than the cash index’s decline of 0.48%.

Flipping its role once again, the biggest loser ended up being Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA). For the day, the AI/EV company declined by $16.87 or 4.02% to close at $402.90.