The theme of 2015 has been plenty of volatility, with few results on the stock market. That was certainly the case this week, as the market saw wild swings from day to day. But by the end of the week, the Dow and S&P were where they’ve been for a while–right around even.
Monday the markets dropped 150 points immediately, as investors worried over the fallout from the Greek ‘no’ vote in their weekend referendum. Perhaps the biggest loser of the day was the oil market, where prices dropped almost 8% to $52 per barrel. The markets attempted an afternoon recovery, but the Dow finished down 46 points.
Tuesday volatility was the story, as the Dow dropped almost 225 points by mid-day. In the afternoon, however, investors swooped in, sensing a buying opportunity. Experts credited the volatility to uncertainty, suggesting that such wild swings would become the norm until the Greek situation was settled one way or another. For the day, the Dow was up 93 points.
Wednesday the market again began the day sharply lower—but this time it was China, not Greece, driving investor fear. The Shanghai exchange dropped 6% overnight on Tuesday into Wednesday. Around mid-day, a technical glitch shut down the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Nothing went right on Wednesday, as the Dow dropped 261 points.
Thursday the markets attempted a bounce-back, inspired by a rally in the Chinese markets that saw stocks recover the previous day’s losses. The Dow went up nearly 200 points in the morning, but saw those gains cut dramatically as the day went on. In the end, the rally was quite modest as the Dow went up by 33 points.
Friday the rally was sustained, as optimism over a Greek bailout increased. Investors became hopeful that the weekend’s meetings would finally yield an agreement. In the afternoon, however, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen all but confirmed an interest rate hike in 2015, giving investors cause for caution. All in all, it was the market’s best day of the week, as the Dow went up 211 points.
