Although not an official market holiday, Yom Kippur is observed by many New York area schools and many Jewish colleagues will also spend time observing the holiday with family and friends. Their absence can dampen trading volumes as positions are squared ahead of the holiday. This year Yom Kippur begins at sunset today on Tuesday, October 8, 2019 and ends tomorrow Wednesday October 9, 2019.
Over the past 21 years the day of Yom Kippur (or the next trading day) has been up slightly more than 50% of the time for DJIA and S&P 500, but NASDAQ has been down 14 of the last 21 years. There have been some large declines that result in average losses across the board. More recently DJIA and S&P 500 have been up 7 times in the last 10 years (NASDAQ up 4 of 10) on the day. The day after is not much better, down 5 of the last 10 and 3 of the last 5.
Yom Kippur’s proximity on the secular calendar puts in the volatile period prone to declines from about mid-September to mid-October.
Happy New Year and Shana Tovah to all! To those observing we wish you an easy fast.
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