What Does Women's History Month Mean For The Stock Market As Record Number Of Women Turn To Investing?

March 1 kicks off Women’s History Month to honor the contributions women have made to events in historical and contemporary society.

This year, the designated theme, chosen by the National Women's History Alliance (NWHA), is "Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories."

More specifically, this year’s theme will highlight “women, past and present, who have been active in all forms of media and storytelling including print, radio, TV, stage, screen, blogs, podcasts, and more,” according to the NWHA.

See Also: Women In Fintech

Economically, women contribute greatly to the U.S. and this month, SCORE, an organization that supports entrepreneurs, is celebrating women entrepreneurs and their indelible impact on the U.S. economy, according to a report.

Recently, women have also become much more involved in the stock market, which impacts the economy.

A 2021 Fidelity Investments study found that women were investing in the stock market in record numbers, with two-thirds of women reporting they were choosing to invest in the stock market, up 50% from 2018.

Of course, while that is bullish for women being as equally represented in finance as men are, that fact isn’t bullish or bearish for the stock market as a whole.

But how does the stock market typically perform during Women’s History Month?

In March 2022, the SPDR S&P 500 SPY gained 3.44% after declining 8.07% over the course of January and February of that year. The year prior, the market ETF rose 4.2%, compared to the 1.73% gain over the two months previous.

In 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the SPY plunged 13% in March, after declining almost 8% over the first two months of that year. Going back to 2019, the SPY edged 1.36% higher, which was modest in comparison to the 13.29% the ETF surged over the two months prior and in 2018, the SPY fell 3.13%, after closing January and February up a total of 1.79% from the December 2017 closing price.

Read Next: Berner's Cookies Teams Up With Erykah Badu To Launch Cannabis Line That Will 'Elevate Women In The Space'

Image by mohamed_hassan from Pixabay