The Dow just tumbled into a bear market — here’s how long those downturns last on average

It’s the end of a bullish era for the stock market and the beginning of a new phase of bearishness, after a sharp plunge for risk assets on Wednesday pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average into bear-market territory for the first time in more than a decade.

U.S. equity indexes on Wednesday mostly resumed a downtrend that saw all three major U.S. equity gauges touch bear-market territory, commonly defined as a decline of at least 20% from a recent peak. The declines deepened after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19, the infectious disease that was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December, a pandemic.

The illness has infected more than 124,000 people and claimed nearly 4,600 lives worldwide, with market experts fearing that pandemic could disrupt global supply chains and drive the global economy into recession.

The Dow DJIA, -5.85%, composed of 30 blue-chip companies was pulled lower by a powerful decline of 18% in shares of component Boeing Co. BA, -18.15%, which helped drive the price-weighted index into a bear market. The S&P 500 SPX, -4.88% and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -4.70% narrowly missed ending at those levels.