+

Cookies on the Business Insider India website

Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.

Close
HomeQuizzoneWhatsappShare Flash Reads
 

Here's what happens to the stock market during the Olympics

Aug 5, 2016, 19:40 IST

Luke MacGregor/Reuters

Today's entry in fun historical stock market anecdotes comes from Bespoke Investment Group.

Advertisement

Bespoke broke down the performance for the US' S&P 500 index and the host country's main stock index for every Olympic Games since 1928.

For the US, stocks go up about half the time between the opening and closing ceremonies according to Bespoke.

"The S&P 500 has averaged a gain of 1.75% from the opening ceremony to the closing ceremony over the 20 Summer Olympics since 1928 (2 of the 22 were cancelled due to world wars)," said the note. "The median return has been smaller at +0.30%, and the index has been positive 55% of the time."

Recent history, however has been more mixed, with stocks gaining twice - in 2004 and 2012 - and falling twice - in 2000 and 2008. The two drops, however, did come during games in the middle of recessions, which is not the case this time around.

Advertisement

For the host countries, markets have generally been more positive.

"Since 1984, the benchmark indices of host countries have averaged a gain of 1.74% (median 2.32%) from the opening ceremony to closing ceremony, with positive returns six out of eight times (75%)," said Bespoke.

The worst performer of the host countries was China in 2008, which saw it's massive stock bubble pop and the Shanghai Composite index drop 7.69% during the two weeks of the Olympics.

The best return? The 9.41% jump in the S&P 500 in 1984 when Los Angeles was the host.

It remains to be seen if Brazil can be one of the luckier hosts. The country still remains in recession, but its stock market has rallied 33% so far this year, according to Bespoke.

Advertisement

NOW WATCH: Here's what we know about Trump's youngest daughter, Tiffany

Please enable Javascript to watch this video
You are subscribed to notifications!
Looks like you've blocked notifications!
Next Article