After attempting to break higher yesterday, markets reversed all gains overnight once again, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 approach an official bear market amid a now pandemic coronavirus.
In what seems to be a pattern forming, stocks have attempted to rally one day, only to give back all the gains after the close and into the next trading session. The coronavirus-led sell-off achieved a fresh low on Wednesday as markets are reeling from a crude oil battle between Russia and Saudi Arabia, as well as the rapid transmission of the virus and the hampered economic growth resulting from the outbreak.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded lost nearly 1,400 points, or roughly 5.5%, and is now 20% below its high intraday set earlier last month. A 20% decline is considered a bear market on Wall Street. However, some investors don’t officially categorize a bear market as such until it reaches that loss on a closing-level basis. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are both in similarly murky waters.
Stock Index ETF echoed the moves in markets, with the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA), and the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) all bleeding out today.
Many analysts are now in the camp that this is just the beginning of stock market woes.