Wall Street tumbles, pushing S&P 500 into bear market territory

Ding ding! The opening bell has sounded on the New York Stock Exchange, and stocks are once again sliding.

Wall Street stocks plunged at the opening bell, pushing the S&P 500 toward bear market territory. The benchmark index dropped 3.8% to 4,882.79 at the start of trading, putting it more than 20% below its December peak.

A bear market is characterised by steep declines that often trigger further selling as investor panic intensifies.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 3.3% to 37,021.13, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slumped 4.1% to 14,944.25.

Traders are responding to fresh warnings from firms like Goldman Sachs, which say the escalating trade war is heightening the risk of a U.S. recession — with no indication that Donald Trump plans to ease off.

Bloomberg reports that Wall Street has now lost roughly 13% of its value since Thursday, marking the third-worst three-day stretch in history, behind only the early COVID-19 selloff in March 2020 and the 2008 financial crisis.

Tesla tops the list of S&P 500 decliners as stock slide continues.

Elon Musk’s electric vehicle giant is facing another rough day on the markets, with shares tumbling 8.5% in early trading — making it the worst performer on the S&P 500.

Other major losers include chipmaker AMD, down 7.5%, and data analytics firm Palantir, which has dropped 7.1%.

What is a bear market?

A stock index is considered to be in a bear market when it closes more than 20% below its all-time high, based on a widely accepted definition.

The S&P 500 last officially entered bear market territory in June 2022, amid investor fears that the Federal Reserve’s efforts to control post-pandemic inflation might trigger a recession.

Bear markets often coincide with economic downturns and typically persist until confidence returns and investors believe the worst is over.

According to research from CFRA, nine out of the twelve bear markets in the S&P 500 since 1948 have been accompanied by recessions.

The current wave of tariff turmoil has prompted Wall Street banks and brokerages to raise the likelihood of a U.S. recession. At the same time, traders have ramped up bets on potential interest rate cuts, as Donald Trump shows no signs of backing away from broad new tariffs.