S & P 500 drops 20% from record closing price at a pace to confirm bear market

ryanniesMay 20, 2022

Reuters

Amruta Khandekar and Devik Jain

Benchmark’s S & P 500 index is down 20% from its record close on January 3rd in volatile trading on Friday. Below that level by more than 20% confirms that the S & P 500 has entered the bear market for the first time since the 2020 Wall Street plunge caused by a coronavirus pandemic.

Tech-heavy Nasdaq is already in the bear market, down 30.7% from its record closing price in November 2021.

Ten of the 11 major S & P sectors were down, with consumer discretion and industry down 3.5% and 2.2%, respectively.

Apple Inc, Google owners Alphabet Inc, Nvidia Corp, and Tesla slide between 2.5% and 9.9%, making them the heaviest on the S & P 500 and Nasdaq. Both indices were above 1% in the morning trading.

Deere & Co’s stock plunged 12.1%, making it the biggest stumbling block to the industrial sector after heavy equipment makers’ weak quarterly earnings.

Will Nasgowitz, Chief Executive Officer of Heartland Advisors, said:

“You will probably see a bear market (S & P 500). The market reflects that the economy is not extremely high and there are some cracks in the foundation.”

Disappointing forecasts from major retailers Wal-Mart and Target have shaken market sentiment this week, adding evidence that rising prices have begun to undermine the purchasing power of US consumers.

The S & P 500 and Nasdaq are set for seven consecutive weeks of losses, the longest consecutive loss since the end of the dot-com bubble in 2001.

The Dow is on track for eight consecutive weekly declines, the longest since 1932 during the Great Depression.

The three major indices this year are 15.1 as investors adapt to the roar of the supply chain, the blockade of China, the geopolitical uncertainties caused by the conflict in Ukraine, and the rate of increase of the Federal Reserve Board. It has fallen between% and 28.6%.

Traders are priced by the US central bank in June and July with a 50 basis point rate hike.

At 12:54 pm on the ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 439.27 points (1.41%) to 30,813.86, the S & P 500 fell 69.83 points (1.79%) to 3,830.96, and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 291.39 points (2.56). bottom. %, 11,097.11.

Expiration of monthly options contracts on Friday can boost trading volumes and increase volatility, especially towards the end of the session.

Ross Stores plunged 23.8% after discount apparel retailers lowered their 2022 sales and profit forecasts. Meanwhile, Vans brand owner VF Corp was up 3% with a strong earnings outlook for 2023.

The problem of decline was 2.84 to 1 in NYSE and 2.85 to 1 in Nasdaq, surpassing the starting lineup.

The S & P index recorded one new 52-week high and 47 new lows, while Nasdaq recorded 10 new highs and 285 new lows. (Report by Amruta Khandekar and Devik Jain in Bangalore, edited by Shounak Dasgupta and Arun Koyyur)