Before the market opened, the Consumer Price Index for March came in higher than forecast, although inflation remains exceptionally tame, and the Empire State Manufacturing Survey was surprisingly weak. S&P 500 ignored the economic data and resumed yesterday's closing rally to its morning high about 20 minutes later. By 2 PM the index had executed a complete sine wave from yesterday's close. It then rallied to its 0.73% intraday high shortly before the final bell, which recorded a trimmed gain of 0.68%.
The yield on the 10-year note finished at 2.64%, down 1 bp from Friday's close and 4 bps off the 2014 low of 2.60%.
Here is a snapshot of the past five sessions.
Volume for today's advance was above the 50-day moving average. The closing price is just below its 50-day price moving average.
The S&P 500 is now down 0.29% 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.