(Bloomberg) — A rally in US stocks lost traction as the euphoria following the Federal Reserve’s half-point interest rate cut faded while expiring derivatives contracts and a big rebalancing magnified Friday’s moves.
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After wavering between gains and losses in the final minutes of trading, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 both ended the session down 0.2% with the broader benchmark fresh off its 39th record high of 2024. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a 0.1% gain — enough for a closing record. More than 20 billion shares changed hands on US exchanges, the busiest session since January 2021.
Friday’s quarterly “triple witching” saw about $5.1 trillion derivatives contracts tied to stocks, index options and futures mature, according to an estimate from derivatives analytical firm Asym 500. At the same time another $250 billion in index trades were being digested. The event has a…
