US bear market lasts just 19 days

Wall Street’s S&P 500 benchmark index has entered a bull market after its second-shortest bear market in history.

The switches between bull and bear markets have been rapid as the coronavirus crisis hits global stocks. Picture: Getty Images

The US sharemarket has entered a bull market after its second-shortest bear market in history.

The benchmark S&P 500 rose 3.4 per cent on Thursday (AEST) to 2749.98 to be 22.9 per cent above its bear-market low close of 2237.4 points 13 days ago, exceeding a 20 per cent rise needed to end a bear market.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 share index will enter a bull market if it closes at or above 5455.24 points, which is 248.3 points or 4.8 per cent above Wednesday’s close at 5206.9 points.

The S&P/ASX 200 was on Thursday expected to open up 1.3 per cent at 5275 points, based on overnight futures.

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The latest bear market in the S&P 500, which was established on March 11, lasted just 19 days, the shortest since a 15-day bear market ended in November 1929, according to data compiled by Dow Jones.

It took just 12 trading days to recover from the bear-market low close of 2237.4 points, which was reached on March 23. That was the quickest move from bear to bull since the last bear market, when it took 10 trading days ending March 23, 2009.

To recap on the recent bear market, it took 23 trading days from the recent high to the bear market low, which was the quickest recent high-to-bear-market low on record.