Market Performance on Fed Days

Tomorrow will mark the 27th FOMC meeting since Bernanke & Co. implemented ZIRP (zero interest rate policy).  Below we highlight the S&P 500's performance on these Fed days.  As shown, the index has averaged a gain of 0.68% (median 0.46%) on these 26 days with positive returns 18 out of 26 times (69%).  The positive returns on Fed Days go back much further than ZIRP, however.  Since 1995 when the Fed began announcing its policy decisions on the day of meetings, the S&P 500 has averaged a gain of 0.37% on FOMC days.

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