Stock market after midterm elections: What S&P 500 history shows

Markets are sweating it out ahead of the midterm elections, but the event historically heralds strong performance for stocks — regardless of whether it's a red or blue wave, split decision, or status quo in Washington. The S&P 500 tends to perform well after both midterm and presidential elections. According to a CNBC analysis of S&P 500 returns after elections from 1980 through 2024, the index rose an average of 0.2% after one day and one week, and 1.1% after one month across both presidential and midterm elections.A year later, the index gained an average of 13.7% after midterms and 13.8% after presidential elections. Returns were positive in 91% of cases. And the S&P 500 was up after all 11 midterms from 1982 through 2022.Short-term returns were less reliable, particularly after presidential contests, which produced slightly negative average returns after one day and one week."There's some anxiousness before these elections," Ryan Detrick, CNBC contributor and chief market strategist at Carson Group, told CNBC. "Once you are through it, it's a big relief and markets tend to do pretty well."Markets prefer gridlockStill, the market usually prefers divided government: o...