S&P 500 Snapshot: A Record Close Thanks to Retail Earnings and an Oil Bounce

The Dow, NASDAQ and our preferred equity benchmark S&P 500 all closed at record highs today. The 500 opened higher at its intraday low, triggered in part by better-than-expected earnings of retailers, most notably Kohl's and Macy's, which ended the session with breathtaking 16.17% and 17.09% gains. A huge rebound in oil prices also buoyed the market. WTIC end of day surged over six percent. The 500 hit a record intraday high, up 0.60% before settling to a 0.47% gain at the final bell, a record close.

Treasuries sold off on today's equity rally. The closing yield on the 10-year note rose seven basis points to 1.57%.

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

Today's record close came on a session of weak summertime volume.

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.