This article is a summary of the closing milestones of the S&P 500 Index, a United States stock market index. Since opening at 16.66 on January 3, 1950, the S&P 500 has substantially increased despite several periods of decline.
Standard & Poor's, initially known as the Standard Statistics Company, created its first stock market index in 1923. It consisted of 233 different stocks and was computed on a weekly basis. Three years later, it developed a 90 component composite price index that was computed on a daily basis; that was expanded over the years. On March 4, 1957, the Standard & Poor's 500 (.INX) (.SPX) was introduced.
Milestone highs and lows
June 4, 1968: S&P 500 closes above 100 for the first time.
October 19, 1987: S&P 500 registers its largest daily percentage loss, falling 20.47 percent. The one-day crash, known as "Black Monday," was blamed on program trading and those using a hedging strategy known as portfolio insurance. Despite the losses, the S&P 500 still closed positive for the year.
March 24, 1995: The S&P 500 index closes above 500 for the first time. In exactly five years time, the S&P 500 tripled its value, and reached its peak prior to the dot-com bubble.
February 2, 1998: S&P 500 closes above 1,000 for the first time.
March 15, 1999: The S&P 500 closed above 1,300 for the first time. On the next day, the more commonly followed Dow Jones Industrial Average traded above 10,000 points for the first time.
March 24, 2000: The S&P 500 index reaches an all-time intraday high of 1,552.87 during the dot-com bubble.
October 9, 2007: Index closes at a record high of 1,565.15, the highest close prior to the 2008 financial crisis.
October 11, 2007: S&P 500 hits an intraday record high of 1,576.09.
October 13, 2008: S&P 500 marks its best daily percentage gain, rising 11.58 percent. It also registers its largest single-day point increase of 104.13 points.
December 31, 2008: For the year, S&P 500 falls 38.49 percent, its worst yearly percentage loss. In September 2008, Lehman Brothers collapsed as the financial crisis spread.
March 9, 2009: S&P 500 closes at 676.53, its closing low after the onset of the 2008 financial crisis and the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers.
March 28, 2013: S&P 500 ends at 1,569.19, surpassing its previous record closing high set in 2007.
April 10, 2013: S&P 500 hits new all-time intraday record high at 1,589.07, surpassing the previous record of 1,576.09 set during trading on October 11, 2007.
May 3, 2013: S&P 500 closes above 1,600 for the first time, finishing at 1,614.42 after a much better-than-expected April U.S. non-farm payrolls report. The index also hit an all-time intraday high of 1,618.46.
August 1, 2013: S&P 500 closes above 1,700 for the first time, finishing at 1,706.87, as well as reaching an all-time intraday high of 1,707.85.
November 22, 2013: S&P 500 closes above 1,800 for the first time, finishing at 1,804.76 points.
May 23, 2014: S&P 500 closes above 1,900 for the first time, finishing at 1,900.53 points.
August 26, 2014: S&P 500 closes above 2,000 for the first time, finishing at 2,000.02 points.
February 17, 2015: S&P 500 closes above 2,100 for the first time, finishing at 2,100.34 points.
November 22, 2016: S&P 500 closes above 2,200 for the first time, finishing at 2,202.94 points.
February 9, 2017: S&P 500 closes above 2,300 for the first time, finishing at 2,307.87 points.
The following is a list of the milestone closing levels of the S&P 500. 1-point increments are used up to the 20-point level; 2 to 50; 5 to 100; 10 to 500; 20 to 1,000; 50 to 3,000; and 100-point increments thereafter. Additional milestones may be used if necessary.
