The sharp drop in Wall Street's most-watched index for market volatility and investor anxiety following the conclusion of the U.S. presidential election tends to precede a rally in the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX, according to SentimenTrader's Dean Christians
Former President Donald Trump secured a dramatic comeback to capture the White House after defeating Vice President Kamala Harris, along with Republicans seizing control of the U.S. Senate. Control of the House of Representatives is still undecided.
The Cboe Volatility Index .VIX plunged by about 21% after the election results became clear on Wednesday, a decline that has been seen only four other times since 1992, when data became available, according to Christians.
Data shows that whenever the VIX opened down 15% or more from the previous session's close, the S&P 500 showed a very strong tendency to rally over the next three and six months, advancing almost 90% of the time, Christians said.
Furthermore, the maximum losses incurred by the S&P 500 in the next six months stood at about 10%, with each decline linked to events such as the Great Financial Crisis in 2007- 2008, Flash Crash in 2010, and the European Debt Crisis in 2011. These scenarios are markedly different from the current macroeconomic backdrop, Christians said.
"Investors, relieved from the uncertainty of the election cycle, bought stocks, driving the S&P 500 up over 2% at the open to an intraday record high," Christians said. "Similar precedents resulted in a 100% win rate for the S&P 500 over the next six months, which dovetails nicely with the favorable seasonal period for stocks."