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S&P 500 futures down over 20%, signaling bear market

Nasdaq confirmed bear market last week

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Tech firms hit hardest: Apple ( AAPL ) down 25%, Nvidia ( NVDA ) 20% this

year

(Recasts throughout, adds comment in paragraphs 8 and 9)

By Shashwat Chauhan

April 7 (Reuters) - Futures tied to the S&P 500 index

slumped further on Monday and were down more than 20% from their

all-time highs, putting the most closely followed benchmark for

U.S. equities on track to confirm a bear market.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures also sank 20% below

their record high, while the Nasdaq confirmed it was in a bear

market last week as fears of a recession following U.S.

President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs pound global stocks.

Trump said on Sunday that investors would have to take their

"medicine" when he was asked about the market selloff, adding

that he would not make a deal unless the trade deficit with

China is solved.

An index confirms it has been in a bear market if it closes

more than 20% below its record closing high, according to a

widely used definition.

The last time the S&P 500 confirmed it was in bear market

territory was in June 2022 when investors were worried whether

the Federal Reserve would be able to tame post-pandemic

inflation without causing an economic downturn.

Bear markets often lead into a recession and last until

investors think that the worst of the economic downturn is

behind them. Nine of the 12 bear markets since 1948 have been

accompanied by recessions, according to investment research firm

CFRA.

The tariff mayhem has led Wall Street brokerages to raise

their forecasts of a U.S. recession, while traders have ramped

up bets of interest rate cuts as Trump shows no sign of backing

off after imposing sweeping tariffs on U.S. imports.

"It looks like (Trump) wants to re-engineer the whole way

that the U.S. has been operating as the world's leading

economy," said Giles Coghlan, director at trading platform GCFX.

"As long as that perspective is embraced by the market, then

we'll have further selling."

The S&P 500 has fallen almost 11% in the last two

sessions, down more than 17% from its all-time closing high of

6,144.15 points hit on February 19 as of Friday's close.

Futures indicated a more than 2% decline on the index,

pointing to another bout of losses that could push the S&P 500

over the bear market threshold.

Heavyweight tech firms, which powered Wall Street's main

indexes to record highs in recent years, have been the worst hit

so far. Apple ( AAPL ) has lost 25%, while Nvidia ( NVDA ) is

down 20% this year. Microsoft ( MSFT ) has shed 14.6%.

The information technology subindex has led losses

among the major S&P sectors so far in 2025.

(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Medha Singh in Bengaluru;

Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)