In the best daily performance since September 1, the NASDAQ added 2.33 percent, the S&P500 rose 2.12 percent while the DJIA closed with just a 1.86 percent increase. In terms of ranking daily advances, the S&P500 led, with today’s change its 133rd largest since January 2000. Though the DJIA trailed the NASDAQ action, it nevertheless ranked 152 from the top above the NASDAQ’s 206th best performance in the past decade.
These changes yield a pattern of +1/-3 for the NASDAQ and the S&P500; the DJIA closed down only twice in a row -on Wednesday and Thursday- ended the week with +1/-2 sequence. Only 7 other days since 1950 share this characteristic, with the last four happening since January 2000.
The diagram of the S&P500 closes since 1985, locates these with solid circles. Their distribution over the ups and downs of the past 25 years provides little help in ascertaining the future of the present market. Whereas the first three, in 1986 and 1994, shared rising prices, two others preceded the October 2007 peak. The last, previous experience this past January, notwithstanding the run-up that ended in April, fails to provide much insight about price trends in the near future.
DJIA 1.86 percent
NASDAQ 2.33 percent
S&P500 2.12 percent