March is one of the strongest months of the year for stocks with the S&P 500 Index rising by an average of 1.1% and gaining in 66% of periods over the past five decades.

Stock Market Outlook for March 3, 2025

March is one of the strongest months of the year for stocks with the S&P 500 Index rising by an average of 1.1% and gaining in 66% of periods over the past five decades.

Real Time Economic Calendar provided by Investing.com.

*** Stocks highlighted are for information purposes only and should not be considered as advice to purchase or to sell mentioned securities. As always, the use of technical and fundamental analysis is encouraged in order to fine tune entry and exit points to average seasonal trends.

Stocks Entering Period of Seasonal Strength Today:

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Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD) Seasonal Chart

Elme Communities (NYSE:ELME) Seasonal Chart

Vanguard International Dividend Appreciation ETF (NASD:VIGI) Seasonal Chart

Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE:AGR) Seasonal Chart

Avalonbay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Seasonal Chart

iShares Global Utilities ETF (NYSE:JXI) Seasonal Chart

iShares MSCI Germany ETF (NYSE:EWG) Seasonal Chart

CoStar Group, Inc. (NASD:CSGP) Seasonal Chart

H. B. Fuller Co. (NYSE:FUL) Seasonal Chart

ABM Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ABM) Seasonal Chart

Camden Property Trust (NYSE:CPT) Seasonal Chart

Firstenergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Seasonal Chart

Alphabet Inc. – Class C (NASD:GOOG) Seasonal Chart

SunOpta Inc. (NASD:STKL) Seasonal Chart

Rogers Communications, Inc. (NYSE:RCI) Seasonal Chart

The Markets

Stocks snapped back on Friday, erasing much of the prior session’s decline, as investors shook off the apparent escalation of geopolitical tensions following a tense meeting between Ukraine and US leaders. End of month mechanical buying looks to have been a factor in the late-day surge. The S&P 500 Index ended with a gain of 1.59%, reaching back to resistance and a neutral position over an intermediate-term timeframe at the 50-day moving average (5998). A short-term trading range on the chart can been identified with support around 5830 and resistance around 6100; reaction to the lower bound is currently playing out. Momentum indicators on the daily chart have negatively diverged from price since the middle of last year, highlighting the waning enthusiasm investors had been expressing towards tech-heavy (Mag-7) benchmarks, like this, amidst extreme valuations. Downside risks remain in the near-term to the July/August 2024 highs around 5700, a move that would amount to a 7% pullback from recent heights. This would be a healthy and ordinary correction within a bull market, by any measure. We continue to monitor the potential impact of the apparent rotation in the market on our list of candidates in the market to Accumulate and to Avoid and we have adopted more of a neutral stance as segments that were previously noted as Accumulate candidates fall off (eg. Technology) and as areas to Avoid are added.

Today, in our Market Outlook to subscribers, we discuss the following:

Monthly look at the large-cap benchmark

The strongest contiguous two months of the year for stocks

Average tendency for stocks during the month of March

The average peak in the Volatility Index (VIX)

Securities that have gained or lost in every March over their trading history

Canada Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

US Trade in Goods and the largest deficit on record

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Over the past five decades, the S&P 500 Index has averaged a return of 1.1% in the third month of the year with a gain frequency of 66%. Returns have ranged from a loss of 12.5% in March of 2020 to a gain of 9.7% in March of 2000. We provide further insight on what to expect in the month ahead in our just released Market Outlook for March. Subscribe now.

Just Released…

Our monthly report for March is out, providing you with everything that you need to know to navigate the market through the month(s) ahead.

Highlights in this report include:

Equity market tendencies in the month of March

Equity market running low on gas

Investor enthusiasm towards stocks waning

Unwind of the Yen Carry Trade

Magnificent 7 Struggling

Bitcoin stall and rollover

Inflationary pressures continue to ramp up from the past few months

Inflationary hedges remain desired in portfolios

Alleviation of a headwind against risk assets (commodities)

Stay exposed to energy stocks at this seasonally strong time of year

Rough start to the year for the housing market

Consumers continue to take equity out of their homes as broader loan activity struggles

Delinquency rate on consumer loans remaining elevated

Industrial Production

Retail Sales

Consumer momentum still lagging seasonal norms

Volatility typically peaks by the middle of March

Our list of all segments of the market to either Accumulate or Avoid, along with relevant ETFs

Positioning for the months ahead

Sector Reviews and Ratings

Stocks that have Frequently Gained in the Month of March

Notable Stocks and ETFs Entering their Period of Strength in March

Subscribers can look for this 119-page report in their inbox and, soon, in the report archive.

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With the new month upon us and as we celebrate the release of our monthly report for March, today we release our screen of all of the stocks that have gained in every March over their trading history. While we at Equity Clock focus on a three-pronged approach (seasonal, technical, and fundamental analysis) to gain exposure to areas of the market that typically perform well over intermediate (2 to 6 months) timeframes, we know that stocks that have a 100% frequency of success for a particular month is generally of interest to those pursuing a seasonal investment strategy. Below are the results:

And how about those securities that have never gained in this third month of the year, here they are:

*Note: None of the results highlighted above have the 20 years of data that we like to see in order to accurately gauge the annual recurring, seasonal influences impacting an investment, therefore the reliability of the results should be questioned. We present the above list as an example of how our downloadable spreadsheet available to yearly subscribers can be filtered. For a more extensive list of high frequency (70% ) gainers for the month of February, please refer to our monthly report.

Sentiment on Friday, as gauged by the put-call ratio, ended close to neutral at 0.92.