Stocks close higher on drop in oil prices

These days market commentators like to explain stock market movements by what happens in the oil market. This happens when the stock market appears to move in opposition to the price of crude oil, that is when it appears to be anti-correlated. Is it for real or mere coincidence? The long term chart below shows both the SPX future contract and the crude oil future contract over the long term. Though I can see periods when they seem to move in opposite directions, more recently (since '99) they appear to move in lockstep more than not.




Categories: stock market, correlations