Index Futures Net Changes and Settlements:
Foreign Markets, Fair Value and Volume:
- In Asia 7 out of 11 markets closed lower: Shanghai Comp -0.31%, Hang Seng -0.44%, Nikkei -0.29%
- In Europe 9 out of 13 markets are trading higher: CAC +0.35%, DAX +0.34%, FTSE +0.47%
- Fair Value: S&P +0.28, NASDAQ +6.26, Dow +0.54
- Total Volume: 2.07 million ESM & 251 SPM traded in the pit
*As of 7:00 a.m. CST
Today’s Economic Calendar:
Today’s economic calendar includes GDP 8:30 AM ET, International Trade in Goods 8:30 AM ET, Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET, Corporate Profits 8:30 AM ET, Retail Inventories 8:30 AM ET, Wholesale Inventories 8:30 AM ET, Pending Home Sales Index 10:00 AM ET, EIA Natural Gas Report 10:30 AM ET, EIA Petroleum Status Report 11:00 AM ET, Richard Clarida Speaks 12:00 PM ET, Fed Balance Sheet & Money Supply 4:30 PM ET.
S&P 500 Futures: #ES Makes 13 Week Low
During Tuesday nights Globex session, the S&P 500 futures (ESM19:CME) printed a high of 2806.00, a low of 2782.00, and opened Wednesday’s regular trading hours at 2788.50.
Following the weakness overnight, the first move after the 8:30 CT bell was to test the 2780.00 level, eventually trading down to 2778.75. That would remain the line in the sand for the rest of the day. We expected to see buyers at that level, and we weren’t disappointed.
Once the early low had been established the futures were free to start running upside buy stops. By 9:30 the ES had traded back up to 2792.75, but rumors surrounding the Robert Mueller statement had traders on the sidelines, and the headline algos took over.
Wave after wave of sell programs started activating just after 10:00, and by 11:00 the ES had traded down to 2766.25. From there, the futures ripped up to 2785.00, then drifted sideways going into the last hour.
When the 2:45 cash imbalance reveal came out showing $500 million to sell, the ES was trading at 2785.75. It would then go on to print 2782.75 on the 3:00 cash close, and 2780.00 on the 3:15 futures close, down -25 handle on the day.
In the end, the overall tone of the ES was extremely weak, with most rallies just small short covering pops. In terms of the days overall trade, total volume was higher, with just over 2 million futures contracts traded.
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