Major sectors of the U.S. and world economies are now in a bear market, defined as a 20-percent drop from recent highs.
As of 13 March, financial, industrial, materials, and information tech stocks were, in order, down 27 percent, 23 percent, 21 percent, and 20 percent from the top of their recent runs.
The Dow has fallen more than 30 percent after flirting with the 30,000 mark on 13 March and the S&P index is down about a third from that date as of Monday’s close.
The strongest market sectors have been consumer staples, down only 9.2 percent on 13 March from its February high, and utilities, having lost 11 percent.
The Russell 2000 Index, which tracks smaller U.S. companies, also went bearish on 10 March, down almost a third after topping above 1,700 on 16 January. It closed last week at 1,200 and ended Monday at 1,037.
Europe’s big stock exchanges also traded bulls for bears on 10 March, including France’s CAC-40, the German DAX, and the UK’s FTSE 100. The Europe-wide Stoxx 600 has given up a quarter of its value since its 19 February high of 434. It closed last week at 300 and Monday at 285.
Goldman Sachs agrees that “after 11 years, 13 percent annualized earnings growth, and 16 percent annualized trough-to-peak appreciation,” the bull market is over or soon will be. The bank believes the market will resume its upward arc later this year.
