A much better than expected monthly jobs report triggered a surge at the open followed by a smaller pop at 10 AM when a strong ISM Services number was reported. The index drifted even higher in the afternoon for a closing gain of 1.46% for the day and 2.17% for the week. The index is up 6.94% year-to-date and only 1.37% below its interim high at the end of April 2011.

From an intermediate perspective, the S&P 500 is 98.8% above the March 2009 closing low and 14.1% below the nominal all-time high of October 2007.

Below are two charts of the index, with and without the 50 and 200-day moving averages.

 

 

 

 

For a better sense of how these declines figure into a larger historical context, here's a long-term view of secular bull and bear markets in the S&P Composite since 1871.

For a bit of international flavor, here's a chart series that includes an overlay of the S&P 500, the Dow Crash of 1929 and Great Depression, and the so-called L-shaped "recovery" of the Nikkei 225. I update these weekly.

These charts are not intended as a forecast but rather as a way to study the current market in relation to historic market cycles.