Activision Blizzard Storms To New All-Time Off Being Added To The S&P 500 Index

Joel Elconin is the co-host of Benzinga's #PreMarket Prep, a daily trading idea radio show.

Activision Blizzard, Inc. ATVI shares were trading higher by $1.70 (6 percent) at $29.63 in Friday's session. The catalyst for the move to a new all-time high is the announcement by Standard and Poor's that the issue will be added to the S&P 500 Index. As a result, index fund managers that do not already own the issue must add the issue to their portfolio.

After a sharply higher open ($29.69 vs. Thursday's close of $27.93), it sprinted to $30 before falling back to $28.91 and returning to the $29 handle. The new all-time high was $0.30 higher than the former high that was made on August 18 at $29.70.

The issue would need to close above $29.30 to post a new all-time closing high.

Today's price action is taking place on much heavier than average volume. So far, it has traded 40 million shares compared to 20-day average of 9.24 million with three hours remaining.