A stumbling stock market faces a crucial summer test. Here's what will decide the bull's fate.

History shows that things can get ugly — and volatile — for the U.S. stock market in August and September. So a rocky start to the month shouldn’t be a big surprise. Indeed, even bulls might pine for some near-term consolidation after a torrid run that saw the S&P 500 index SPX rally nearly 20% over the first seven months of 2023. Through Friday’s close, the index is still up nearly 25% from its bear-market closing low of 3,577.03 hit on Oct. 12.

So trouble for the market would emerge if economic data were to falter and begin pointing to a hard landing, core inflation leveled off or bounced, or Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled another rate hike is “definitely coming” and caused a further rise in Treasury yields. The S&P 500 edged down 0.3% last week, suffering its first back-to-back weekly decline since May. The large-cap benchmark is down 2.7% so far in August, trimming its year-to-date gain to 16.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA rose 0.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite COMP shed 1.9%.

Stocks have rallied since late last year as fears priced into the market didn’t materialize, but now that dynamic is gone.

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