XLK max drawdown: 80.5%
Technology Select Sector SPDR. From its 2000-03-31 peak, XLK fell 80.5% to the 2002-09-30 trough and needed 2.5 years to make a new high (2017-01-31). Computed from 678 months of history starting 1970-01-31, including extended pre-ETF data where available.
S&P 500 technology sector.
XLK drawdown statistics
2000-03-31 peak to 2002-09-30 trough.
New high reached 2017-01-31.
Share of all months spent below a prior high.
Rolling year ending 2001-08-31.
For context, SPY (the S&P 500 baseline) had a maximum drawdown of 50.8% over the same kind of monthly-close analysis.
The biggest XLK drawdowns on record
| Depth | Peak | Trough | Recovered | Peak to trough | Total underwater |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -80.5% | 2000-03-31 | 2002-09-30 | 2017-01-31 | 30 mo | 16.8 years |
| -52.3% | 1973-01-31 | 1974-09-30 | 1978-05-31 | 20 mo | 5.3 years |
| -43.6% | 1987-09-30 | 1987-11-30 | 1991-03-31 | 2 mo | 3.5 years |
| -33.4% | 1970-02-28 | 1970-06-30 | 1971-04-30 | 4 mo | 14 months |
| -31.9% | 1983-06-30 | 1985-09-30 | 1987-08-31 | 27 mo | 4.2 years |
Methodology: monthly closing prices, peak-to-trough on total return where available. History extends before the ETF's launch via documented proxy chains (index funds, indices, and academic series), the same data that powers BestFolio's strategy backtests. Educational information, not investment advice.
Drawdowns are the reason tactical strategies exist
Buy-and-hold XLK means living through every number on this page. BestFolio tracks 46+ published TAA strategies whose whole job is cutting these drawdowns, with out-of-sample track records.