The S&P 500 index’s rally puts the broad-market benchmark in position to end August where it started, a relative victory for the gauge after stumbling badly as volatility briefly resurfaced. The S&P 500 index looked set to end August with a gain of less than 0.1%, on the back of four straight gains, with Thursday’s potential advance marking a fifth day. Finishing August at the flatline is notable also because the S&P 500 booked two days of declines of about 1.5% on Aug. 10 and Aug. 17, the first time it has registered a decline of that severity in months. The S&P 500 had recorded only one other decline of at least 1% in 2017, on May 17. For the month, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is set to book a gain of 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was on track to rise 1.2% in August. To put things in perspective, gold futures , considered a haven in times of volatility and uncertainty, climbed 4.7% on the month and measure of volatility, the CBOE Volatility Index climbed 1.6% over the 31-day period.
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