On a day of light economic news, the S&P 500 managed to recover most of its -1.03% post-Memorial Day selloff. The index surged at the opening bell, vacillated at the 30 minute mark and then rose at a slower but steady pace to the final hour. At its 1.05% intraday high eight minutes before the final bell, the index was fractionally above Friday's close. But some last minute selling trimmed the closing gain to 0.92%, the best performance in eight sessions and only 0.12% below Friday's close.

The closing yield on the 10-year note was unchanged at 2.14%.

Here is a 15-minute chart of the past five sessions.

Volume on the SPY ETF, which generally gives a better sense of investor participation than the underlying index, remained a bit light on today's recovery rally.

A Perspective on Drawdowns

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

For a longer-term perspective, here is a charts base on daily closes since the all-time high prior to the Great Recession.