MW Why an S&P 500 close above 6,000 would be an important psychological threshold for investors

By William Watts

It doesn't have the same ring to it as Dow 10,000 - but a close back above 6,000 for the S&P 500 would do a lot to affirm bulls

S&P 6,000?

It doesn't have the same ring to it as Dow 10,000 - for investors old enough to remember when the blue-chip gauge DJIA blew through its first five-figure milestone amid a dot-com frenzy - but a close back above 6,000 for the S&P 500 SPX would do a lot to affirm bulls that near-term momentum can carry the stock market to a test of record territory.

"While no one's made a hat for it that I've seen, the 6,000 level on the S&P 500 is a key psychological threshold that the market has struggled to establish a firm foothold above for eight months now," said Matthew Weller, global head of market research at StoneX, in an email.

Don't miss: The two rules investors need to follow right now as the S&P 500 returns to 6,000

The S&P 500 closed at a record 6,144.15 on Feb. 19, and then began a pullback that took it nearly 20% lower - the threshold for a bear market - on April 8, before it subsequently set off on a recovery. That bounce has seen stocks take back all of their tariff-induced April losses and then some, with the S&P 500 coming within a whisker of 6,000 and hitting an intraday high of 5,999.70 in Thursday's session before turning back.

It finally pushed back above the threshold on Friday as investors cheered the May jobs report, trading as high as 6,016.87 in early trading before pulling back. It was trading near 6,007 in midafternoon trade.

"What people are looking for is to see if the S&P can close above 6,000," said Louis Navellier, founder of Navellier & Associates, in a Friday note. "Clearly, the trend remains positive."

Weller said that from a near-term perspective, 6,000 marks the top of a three-week ascending-triangle pattern. That means a confirmed weekly close above it "could set the stage for a retest of the record highs near 6,150 in short order."

An ascending triangle consists of a horizontal line marking two or more recent highs near the same level and an ascending trend line drawn off a series of rising market lows (see below).

The danger? "A reversal off that big figure would raise fears of a lower high in the broader index and would raise the odds of a deeper retracement back toward the mid-5,000s after the torrid rally off the April lows," Weller said.

-William Watts

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 06, 2025 15:17 ET (19:17 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.