Will Friday the 13th Spook the Market?

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Historically, Friday the 13th tends to be a relatively calm day for the stock market, with average gains of only 0.2 percent or less.

In three of the last five instances, all three major averages finished down on Friday the 13th. Should investors take this as a bad omen? Below is a look at how stocks traded on this superstitious day.

Dow since 1900:

• Average gain of 0.04 percent on Friday the 13th, and up 59 percent of the time
• The Dow ended down three out of the last five Friday the 13ths and down for the last two on 5/13/11 and 8/13/10
• Biggest Gain: 2.66 percent was on 12/13/1929
• Biggest Drop: -6.9 percent was on 10/13/1989

S&P since 1928:

• Average gain of 0.02 percent on Friday the 13th, and up 57 percent of the time
• The S&P ended down three out of the last five Friday the 13ths and down for the last two on 5/13/11 and 8/13/10
• Biggest gain: 3.34 percent was on 10/13/2000
• Biggest drop: -6.11 percent was on 10/13/1989

Nasdaq Composite since 1971:

• Average gain of 0.20 percent on Friday the 13th, and up 60 percent of the time
• The Nasdaq ended down three out of the last five Friday the 13ths and down for the last two on 5/13/11 and 8/13/10
• Biggest gain: 7.87 percent in 10/13/2000
• Biggest drop: -3.09 percent in 10/13/1989

And here is a look at the unlucky 13 so far this year:

bythenumbers.cnbc.com

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