Yesterday morning's Durable Goods data beat expectations and Consumer Confidence hit a new post-recession high. But the market was evidently more interested in our lawmakers' return to Capitol Hill. The S&P 500 fell at the open, rallied for a few minutes and the rolled over just as the Consumer Confidence was announced.
The index rallied back to the opening price and churned sideways until shortly after 2 PM. That was when we learned Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was disappointed with Fiscal Cliff talks. Thirty minutes later the index had slipped below the 1,400 level. A small rally took the index back above 1,400 benchmark, but it didn't hold. The index finished the day at 1,398.94 for a loss of 0.52%.
Here is a 5-minute look at yesterday's action.
The S&P 500 is now up 11.24% for 2012 but 4.56% below the interim closing high of September 14th.
From a longer-term perspective, the index is 106.8% above the March 2009 closing low and 10.6% 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.