Major European indexes surged yesterday, with the Euro Stoxx 50 posting a 1.61% gain. The US equity markets opened the session in emulation mode, the S&P 500 rose to its 1.41% intraday high 30 minutes after the open. The index traded sideways for an hour and then began an accelerating plunge to its -0.99% mid-afternoon intraday low. A bounce in the final hour took the index fractionally into the green, but it subsequently closed with modest -0.26% loss.
Yesterday's 2.42% intraday range was the fifth largest in the past 260 sessions.
The Treasury Department recorded a close of 1.91% for 10-Year Note, only down 1 bp from the previous day's close.
Here is a 15-minute chart of the past five sessions.
Red bars continue to accumulate on the daily chart, accounting for eight of the past ten sessions. Despite the intraday volatility, yesterday's volume was only 20% above its 50-day moving average.
A Perspective on Drawdowns
Here's a snapshot of sell-offs since the 2009 trough. The S&P 500 is 3.23% off its record close on December 29th.
For a longer-term perspective, here is a pair of charts based on daily closes starting with the all-time high prior to the Great Recession.
