S&P 500 wraps week with longest losing streak in 36 years as election nears

NEW YORK, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- All three major U.S. stock indices completed the week Friday by posting losses, with the presidential election four days out.

Losses on Wall Street are commonplace immediately prior to a U.S. presidential election, but Friday's trading placed the S&P 500 in record territory.

The bellwether index dropped just three points Friday (0.2 pct) to 2,085.18 but extended its losing streak to nine straight sessions -- matching the skid on Dec. 11, 1980, a month after Ronald Reagan was elected and right in the middle of a recession.

In its nine-day losing span, the S&P lost about 3 percent of its value.

If the index loses again Monday, it would be the longest losing streak since mid-1975. Analysts believe it's possible the S&P 500 could set a new record drought if the market continues to stagnate after Tuesday's vote. The all-time record for the S&P is 12 straight losses, set more than a half-century ago in April 1966.

Most analysts believe the market volatility is a signal that many investors believe the race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is too close to call.

"People have woken up to the fact that this election can go either way. The market is starting to tell us that the race for the White House has tightened," TD Ameritrade analyst J.J. Kinahan told USA Today Friday.

"There's general market anxiety driven by the election," Manulife Asset Management's chief economist, Megan Greene, told the Wall Street Journal. "In the past we talked about bulls and bears. Now I think there's a big group of investors who are just unsure."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 42 points Friday (0.2 pct) to 17,888.28 and the Nasdaq shed 12 points (0.2 pct) to finish at 5,046.37.

The Dow has fallen 451 points in just over a month, when it posted a high of 18,339 on Sept. 28.