BRIEF: Dow drops as grizzly markets get worse

A red bear illustrating a downtrending stock market. (Courtesy of Encik Tekateki under license.)

The last holdout of major indexes of the U.S. stock market has gone grizzly as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell into a bear market Monday. All other indexes continued to drop, extending a 5-day decline.

According to NerdWallet.com, “a bear market is defined by a prolonged drop in investment prices — generally, a bear market happens when a broad market index falls by 20% or more from its most recent high.”

The Associated Press reports, “The S&P 500 fell 38.19 points to 3,665.04. The Nasdaq dropped 65 points to 10,802.92. The Dow lost 329.60 points to close at 29,260.81. It’s now 20.5% below its all-time high set on Jan. 4. A drop of 20% or more from a recent peak is what Wall Street calls a bear market.”