When the US markets opened yesterday, the Nikkei 225 had posted a modest 0.37% gain, and the EURO STOXX 50 (FSTX) was up 1.35%, later closing with a 1.08% gain. The S&P 500 rallied at the open and hit its 0.55% intraday high shortly after the opening bell. On the surface, the pre-open announcement of the February Durable Goods looked a bit better than expected, but a close look showed that CoreCapital Goods New Orders were quite weak. The index sold off through the day and closed at its intraday low with a loss of 0.70%
The yield on the U.S. 10-Year note finished at 2.71%, down four bps from Tuesday's close. The interim high yield was 3.04% at the end of 2013.
Here is a snapshot of the week so far.
Yesterday's selling came on near average volume.
The S&P 500 is now up 0.23% 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.