S&P 500 Snapshot: Bummer! Losing Streak Now At Four Days

At one minute before the close, it looked like the S&P 500 would snap its three-day losing streak. But at the Friday 13 closing bell, the index had tipped into the red, increasing the streak to day four. And the 1.65% weekly decline gives us the second week of losses (although the previous one was a microscopic -0.04%). The Dow and Nasdaq fared a bit better, both closing with fractional Friday gains.

The day was light empty of economic news, except for this morning’s disinflationary Producer Price Index, which the market essentially ignored.

Here is a 15-minute look at the week, which includes Tuesday’s all-time closing high. Aside from Wednesday’s relatively dramatic selloff, the most noticeable feature is the relatively narrow trading range of the past two days. Are we seeing some consolidation before a traditional Christmas rally?

 

 

Volume on the SPY ETF, which is probably a better investor sentiment indicator than index volume, has fallen from its peak on Wednesday’s selloff.

 

 

A daily chart of the index itself shows the same volume trend.

 

 

The S&P 500 is now up 24.48% for 2013 and 1.83% below the all-time closing high of December 9.

 

 

 

For a better sense of how these declines figure into a larger historical context, here’s a long-term view of secular bull and bear markets in the S&P Composite since 1871.