For the third day, there was little economic news to influence the market. Before the opening bell, the Nikkei 225 had posted a sizeable closing loss of 2.59%, and major European indexes were trading in the red. The EURO STOXX 50 would later close down 0.88%. The S&P 500 opened lower and dropped to its 0.71% intraday low, the same percentage size as yesterday's intraday low. It then rallied to a fractional 0.04% gain in the late morning and traded in a 5-point range for the rest of the day, closing with a gain of 0.03%, which was just off its 0.04% intraday high (one that was 0.03 points higher than the morning high).
The yield on the 10-year note closed at 2.73%, down 4 bps from yesterday's close. The interim high was 3.04% at the end of 2013.
Here is a 15-minute snapshot of the week so far.
Volume continues to be light.
The S&P 500 is now up 1.07% for 2014.
Here is a longer perspective, starting with the all-time high prior to the Great Recession.
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.