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The stock market is approaching all-time highs after enduring a two-year long decline.
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The S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq 100 are all within 5% of their record highs.
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Solid earnings and cooling inflation have coincided with the stock market’s recent rally.
Our Chart of the Day maps the current rebound of the major stock market indexes, and it shows that all-time highs are within reach.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq 100 are all less than 5% away from hitting a record high, according to data from YCharts.
The major averages have suffered an almost two-year long decline, sparked by aggressive interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve and persistent fears of an economic recession.
But most of the decline in stocks, which reached more than 30% for the Nasdaq last year, has been erased as the economy has remained resilient thanks to solid consumer spending.
Stock prices have also been buoyed by falling inflation, a Federal Reserve that appears to be done with further rate hikes, and stronger-than-expected corporate earnings.
As stocks have risen, volatility has plunged. The VIX Index has declined to its lowest levels since before the pandemic, and Fairlead Strategies’ founder Katie Stockton sees the volatility decline as a sign that stocks could continue to rise.
“The inversely correlated VIX is testing support defined by the June low [of] 12.73,” Stockton told clients in a Tuesday note. “A breakdown in the VIX would be a positive indication for the S&P 500, with secondary support near 10.9.”
The VIX traded at 12.78 on Wednesday and hit an intra-day low of 12.48. A continued decline in the VIX would bode well for further gains in the stock market.
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