S&P 500 Futures: #ES, April Expiration Downer

Index Futures Net Changes and Settlements:

Foreign Markets, Fair Value and Volume:

• • In Asia 10 out of 11 markets closed lower: Shanghai Comp -0.09%, Hang Seng -0.54%, Nikkei -0.33%
  • In Europe 7 out of 12 markets are trading lower: CAC -0.02%, DAX -0.03%, FTSE -0.02%
  • Fair Value: S&P -0.46, NASDAQ 6.23, Dow -32.18
  • Total Volume: 1.6 mil ESH & 6.0 k SPH traded in the pit

Today’s Economic Calendar:

Today’s economic calendar includes Chicago Fed National Activity Index, PMI Composite Flash, Existing Home Sales, 4-Week Bill Announcement, 3-Month Bill Auction, 6-Month Bill Auction

S&P 500 Futures: #ES, April Expiration Downer

The S&P 500 futures that traded in a 15.50 handle range during the globex session into Friday morning opened the say at 2692.25, up a single tick made a 2694.75 high on the open and then got slammed in the opening minutes down to 2683.25 just after 9:00 am cst, bounced to 2688.25 and then got hit with heavy sell programs beginning at 9:30 ct last through 10:00 am pushing the index down to 2668.25.

The ESM bounced into the Euro close reaching a late morning high of 2678.75 before again failing as sellers pushed back down to a new low at 2664.75 just after noon in Chicago. The afternoon bounce made it up to 2677.00 before sellers came in at 1:00 pm and begin to push equities lower, taking out the late morning lows and eventually pushing down to 2659.75 down 33.25 handles at 2:20, coming within two ticks of last week’s close wiping out what was a 60 handle rally this week.

The futures did rally into the close  as the market-on-close imbalance came in at $780 million to sell, at the 3:00 cash close the ESM printed 2670.75 and on the 3:15 settlement the ES closed the day at 2672.25, down 20.75 handles or -0.77%.

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As always, please use protective buy and sell stops when trading futures and options.

_{Disclaimer: Trading Futures, Options on Futures, and retail off-exchange foreign currency transactions involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. You should carefully consider whether trading is suitable for you in light of your circumstances, knowledge, and financial resources. Any decision to purchase or sell as a result of the opinions expressed in the forum will be the full responsibility of the person(s) authorizing such transaction(s). BE ADVISED TO ALWAYS USE PROTECTIVE STOP LOSSES AND ALLOW FOR SLIPPAGE TO MANAGE YOUR TRADE(S) AS AN INVESTOR COULD LOSE ALL OR MORE THAN THEIR INITIAL INVESTMENT. PAST PERFORMANCE IS NOT INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS.}