Despite strong pre-market Caterpillar (CAT) earnings and a better-than-expected Durable Goods headline number, the S&P 500 got off to a weak start for the week on Monday. The 10 AM release of pending homes sales, down 4.3%, didn't help matters. But the index battled back to within a hair's breadth of the opening price at midday. The afternoon saw the index dip and recovery to a fractional gain at the beginning of the final hour. But the selling resumed, and the index closed with a fraction loss of 0.18%, breaking its eight-day winning streak. However, the closing level of 1,500.18 kept the index above the 1,500 benchmark.
Here is 5-minute chart of Monday's action.
Here is an hourly chart since the last day of 2012. The 2013 January Effect has been phenomenal, but the 1,500 level is providing a bit of a challenge.
The S&P 500 is now up 5.19% for 2013 and 0.18% below the interim closing high of January 10, 2013.
From a longer-term perspective, the index is 121.7% above the March 2009 closing low and 4.2% below the nominal all-time high of October 2007.
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.
