LIVE MARKETS-It's been a solid year for S&P 500 record closing highs

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IT'S BEEN A SOLID YEAR FOR S&P 500 RECORD CLOSING HIGHS

With just over 10 trading days to go in 2025, the S&P 500 index .SPX is on pace for a solid year of record closing highs.

Through Monday's finish, the benchmark index has scored 37 record closing highs so far in 2025, with the most recent being last Thursday, when it finished at 6,901.

The SPX, which is now around 6,765, is down just 2% from that record finish.

Here is a chart of the number of S&P 500 record closing highs by year.

Last year, with a 23.3% advance, the index did score 57 record closing highs. This year, the SPX is last up about 16%.

This year, however, has been noticeably more volatile. The index's high-to-low range as a percentage of the prior year's close is now about 36%. That's its widest reading since about 49% in 2020 (which included the pandemic panic).

Over the 97 years from 1928 through 2024, the index averaged just over 14 record closing highs per year. There were 51 years where the SPX notched zero record closing highs (53% of the time).

That said, over the 97 years, there were 23 years that the S&P 500 scored more than 30 record closing highs. Given a pattern of clumping, in the following year, including this year so far, the benchmark index, on average, registered 25 record closing highs. There were only four years out of the 23 (17% of the time), in which the following year the SPX registered zero record closing highs. Thus, it now remains to be seen if this year's buoyancy can carry through 2026.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC has scored 36 record closing highs so far this year vs. a total of 38 last year. The IXIC is last down 4.2% from its record close.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI has notched 18 record closing highs in 2025 vs. 48 last year. The Dow is off 1.4% from its record finish.

(Terence Gabriel)

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