The stock market's start to the second quarter is its worst since the Great Depression.
With the S&P 500 down 3 percent in afternoon trading Monday, the broad market index was on track to post its worst start to April since 1928, according to Bespoke Investment Group.
If the benchmark's decline at the close totals more than 2.55 percent, it will be the worst first day of April since 1928, according to Bespoke. A drop more than 1.57 percent would be the worst start to the quarter since 1932, the Bespoke analysts said.
"Based on recent market action, the bears clearly have control right now," Bespoke Co-Founder Justin Walters wrote in an email. "The path of least resistance is lower until something comes along to reverse that trend."
The S&P 500 fell back into correction territory Monday as technology led the market lower, with names like Amazon and Netflix both down more than 5 percent. Intel fell about 8.5 percent after Bloomberg reported that Apple will no longer use its semiconductor chips as early as 2020.
"We're seeing a further breakdown in technicals today," Walters continued. "The S&P is now below its 200-day moving average. If it closes below its 200-day moving average, it will break a streak of 442 straight trading days of closes above it."
The Dow Jones industrial average also fell 3 percent – or 700 points – as China's retaliatory tariffs against U.S. agricultural goods stoked fears of a global trade war. Dow stocks with large international markets (and thus exposed to global tariffs) such as Boeing and 3M led decliners.
By: Thomas Franck (CNBC).
Photo: Foundation for Economic Education.
Review: Emerging Market Formulations & Research Unit, Flagship Records.