By Medha Singh
(Reuters) -The blue-chip 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 notched that grim milestone in June and the Nasdaq 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.
At 2:11 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 696.04 points, or 2.31%, at 29,380.64, the S&P 500 was down 92.47 points, or 2.46%, at 3,665.52, and the was down 274.44 points, or 2.48%, at 10,792.37.
