Dow poised to confirm bear market status as recession fears mount

Sept 23 (Reuters) – The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) tumbled on Friday, on pace to confirm that it has been in a bear market after it fell 20% from its January record high.

The Dow would be the last of the three main indexes to gain the bear market status after the S&P 500 (.SPX) notched that grim milestone in June and the Nasdaq (.IXIC) in March.

If the Dow closes below 29,439.72 points, it would confirm a bear market that began from Jan. 4, according to a widely used definition.

The renewed selling pressure in markets comes in a week that saw the U.S. Federal Reserve raise interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point for a third straight time and a vow to keep it going until inflation is under control.

It has been a tumultuous year for Wall Street, plagued by worries about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an energy crisis in Europe and the end of easy money policy globally.

The S&P 500 has lost 23% this year and the Nasdaq has shed 31%.

The last time the three indexes pulled back so sharply was in 2020 during the heights of the pandemic selloff.

Heightened fears of a U.S. economic downturn next year and its impact on corporate profits has prompted brokerages to downgrade their year-end targets for the S&P 500. read more

At 2:11 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) was down 696.04 points, or 2.31%, at 29,380.64, the S&P 500 (.SPX) was down 92.47 points, or 2.46%, at 3,665.52, and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) was down 274.44 points, or 2.48%, at 10,792.37.

Dow Jones Industrials bear markets

Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta, Shinjini Ganguli and Maju Samuel