Market Tracing Familiar Pattern as S&P 500 Plunge Stops at 4%

Traders whose bullishness on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index surged to the highest levels in 12 months last week finally got a break.

U.S. stocks rallied for the first time since the start of the year yesterday, rising 1.2 percent after suffering the fifth decline of 4 percent or more since last January. Relief that Federal Reserve minutes signaled no change in interest rate policy and optimism on employment growth helped break an 88-point slide in the benchmark gauge for American equity.