The S&P 500 briefly entered bear market territory on Monday amid the Trump tariff chaos.
A bear market is defined as a 20% decline from a record high on a closing basis. The S&P 500 peaked at 6,144 on February 19, putting the bear market "line in the sand" for the benchmark index at about 4,915.
The S&P 500 declined 4.7% at its intraday low on Monday, falling to 4,835, representing a peak-to-trough decline of 21%. The S&P 500 pared losses in afternoon trading to close 0.2% lower at 5,062.
Technically, a bear market is measured on a closing basis, not an intraday basis, so the S&P 500 ends Monday not officially in a bear market.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 officially entered a bear market on Friday.
Investors remain uninspired by the mixed messaging from White House officials over the weekend.
While Kevin Hassett, President Donald Trump's director of the National Economic Council, discussed the potential for negotiations in an interview over the weekend, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the tariffs were here to stay.
Data from Michael Reinking, a senior market strategist at the New York Stock Exchange, shows that the decline could be the second-fastest bear market in history, behind only the March 2020 pandemic bear market.
