Doug Short | May 01, 2016 12:24AM ET
Global equity markets ended the week on a down note. Asian markets were mostly lower (although the Nikkei took the day off), and key European indexes were sharply lower, with the DAX and CAC 40 down 2.8% and 2.7% respectively. Our benchmark S&P 500 opened lower and sold off to twin intraday lows around 1.13% at midday and mid-afternoon. Some buying in the final hour trimmed the day's loss to -51%. The index was dropped 1.26% for the week but finished the month with a fractional gain of 0.27%.
The yield on the 10-year note closed at 1.83%, down one basis point from the previous close and six basis points below last week's close.
Here is a snapshot of past five sessions in the S&P 500.
Here is a weekly chart of the index.
A Perspective on Drawdowns
Here's a snapshot of selloffs since the 2009 trough.
Here is a more conventional log-scale chart with drawdowns highlighted.
Here is a linear scale version of the same chart with the 50- and 200-day moving averages.
A Perspective on Volatility
For a sense of the correlation between the closing price and intraday volatility, the chart below overlays the S&P 500 since 2007 with the intraday price range. We've also included a 20-day moving average to help identify trends in volatility.
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