S&P 500 Snapshot: A 0.01% Gain For The Third Consecutive Record Close

The global rally in major equity markets around the globe lost some steam today. Asian indexes were the best of the lot with the Nikkei up 0.84% and the Shanghai up 0.36%. But European indexes were mixed with a downward skew. The DAX closed at -0.33%, the FTSE -0.15% and the CAC was up a fractional 0.9%. The big three in the US were also mixed: the Dow up 0.13% and the Nasdaq down 0.34%. Our benchmark S&P 500 traded in a narrow range and closed with a microscopic 0.01% gain. But any finish in the green earned the distinction of the third consecutive record close of its four-day rally. The yield on the 10-year note fell five basis points to close at 1.48%.

Here is a snapshot of past five sessions in the S&P 500.

Here is a daily chart of the S&P 500. The preliminary read on rading volume was 15% below its 50-day moving average.

A Perspective on Drawdowns

Here's a snapshot of selloffs since the 2009 trough.

Here is a more conventional log-scale chart with drawdowns highlighted.

Here is a linear scale version of the same chart with the 50- and 200-day moving averages.

A Perspective on Volatility

For a sense of the correlation between the closing price and intraday volatility, the chart below overlays the S&P 500 since 2007 with the intraday price range. We've also included a 20-day moving average to help identify trends in volatility.