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Stocktake: Expect more ‘violent’ market moves

March was worst month for S&P 500 since 2008 but April was best in decades

A trader makes a bubble with chewing gum on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in January, 2019. File photograph: by Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images
A trader makes a bubble with chewing gum on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in January, 2019. File photograph: by Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images
Proinsias O'Mahony's picture
Proinsias O'Mahony
Tue May 05 2020 - 13:05

March was the worst month for the S&P 500 since 2008, while April was the best in decades. History indicates the volatility won’t fade away any time soon, according to the Macro Charts blog, which notes that stocks gained or lost at least 1 per cent in 42 of the first 76 trading days in 2020.

Such intense volatility has only happened in 15 other years; all of them remained “extremely violent to the very end”.