But the market bucked that trend on Friday as Donald Trump took the oath of office as the 45th U.S. president, succeeding Barack Obama. The S&P rose 0.34 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> gained 0.48 percent and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> climbed 0.28 percent.
The last time that the S&P or the Dow rose on the day a new president was inaugurated was Jan 20, 1961, when John F. Kennedy was sworn in to succeed Dwight Eisenhower; the S&P gained 0.32 percent and the Dow added 0.31 percent. The Nasdaq did not yet exist.
Factoring in Friday's gain, the S&P has posted a median decline of 0.4 percent and an average loss of 1.04 percent on the day that power was transferred from one president to another, dating back to the Eisenhower administration, when the index was launched. For the Dow, the median decline is 0.46 percent and the average fall is 0.99 percent.
Nasdaq, which launched in February 1971, has a better track record. It has been higher on more than half the inauguration days of a new president since its inception. On seven transition-of-power days since Gerald Ford took office in 1974, it has posted a median gain of 0.04 percent but an average fall of 1.02 percent, largely due to a 5.79 percent plunge on Obama's first day.
The Presidential Touch: How U.S. stocks have fared under presidents since Eisenhower - http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/USA-TRUMP-INAUGURATION-MARKETS/010031GP3DP/index.html
(Reporting by Dan Burns; Editing by Andrew Hay and Leslie Adler)
