The S&P 500 index futures gave back nearly all of Wednesday’s gains during Thursday’s session, remaining in the recent consolidation range.

Overnight, bulls fought to maintain support after the top component (NVDA) started to sell off. By the regular session open, index futures had clawed back into the green, topping at 6970.75. Bears pounced immediately after the bell, triggering a roughly 90-handle swoon to a low of 6870.75 by the end of the first hour. Buy-the-dippers rebounded and recovered some ground, though the rally faded. Bears probed the low again over lunch before bulls staged another comeback in the afternoon. 

Volatility calmed in the final two hours, with neither bulls or bears gaining any more headway. The session closed near the day’s midpoint at 6920, down 39.75 handles.

Friday brings January’s PPI report at 8:30 AM ET along a light earnings slate with most reports coming in the morning.

Among the top components of the index, Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK.B) stood out as the biggest gainer, rising $8.68 or 1.76% to close at $502.67.

That performance was over two percent better than the cash index’s 0.56% decline.

However, NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) was the biggest loser after its earnings release Wednesday evening. Despite top- and bottom-line beats, raised guidance and some price target raises, it wasn’t enough to clear the high bar. Investors took advantage of the Wednesday night pop to $203.49, and for the day the chip designer declined by $10.74 or 5.49% to close at $184.89.