OPINION: S&P 500 also comes to the edge of a bear market, or hints at a recession

Deep Tide TechFlow - April 7, 2013 - Futures linked to the S&P 500 fell further on Monday, dropping more than 20 percent from their all-time highs, as the US stock market's most-watched benchmark index is on the verge of confirming a bear market, according to Golden Ten Data. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Stock Average are also down 20 per cent from their all-time highs, while the Nasdaq confirmed it was in a bear market last week as fears of a recession in the wake of Trump's sweeping tariffs battered global stock markets.

Under a widely used definition, an index is confirmed to be in a bear market if it closes more than 20 per cent below its all-time closing high. The last time the S&P 500 confirmed it was in bear market territory was in June 2022, when investors worried about whether the Federal Reserve would be able to curb post-epidemic inflation without triggering a recession. Bear markets typically lead to recessions and last until investors believe the worst stages of a recession are behind them. Nine of the 12 bear markets since 1948 have been accompanied by recessions, according to investment research firm CFRA.