The September curse of US stocks has come true! BMO says it won't affect the full-year rise

BMO Capital Markets said September has become known as a weak month for stocks, but that may not affect the S&P 500 index from solidifying its gains for the year. The S&P 500 started September trading this week down 2.3% in the first two days, and is expected to close lower again on Thursday as pressure on stocks has been weighed down by a drop in Nvidia NVDA and weaker manufacturing and labor market data. Brian Belski, chief investment strategist at BMO Capital Markets, said in a report Wednesday: "While we never like to see investors lose money, we are not completely surprised by the recent weakness given that there has not been a clear pullback this year. That said, we remain optimistic for the rest of the year as history has shown that such a large move this year often leads to further gains by year-end." That history includes the S&P 500's strong 18.4% rise in the first eight months of the year. Belski said that only four years since 1990 have been stronger - 1991, 1995, 1997 and 2021 - and the S&P 500 has gone on to further gains by year-end in all four of those years. The strategist did note, however, that even with strong market performance, September and the last four months of the year are common for a pullback.