Dow officially enters bear market

The Dow Jones Industrial Average officially entered bear market territory on Monday, following a precipitous drop.

The key metric fell 329.60 points on Monday, marking a 1.11% decline, placing the index in bear market territory, per MarketWatch.  A bear market is traditionally defined as a 20% decline from a recent high.

On Friday, the Dow Jones plunged below 30,000, effectively erasing all of the stock market's gains since President Joe Biden took office.

The S&P 500 also reached a low point for the year 2022, dropping 1.03% to 3,655.04, while the third major index, the Nasdaq Composite, dropped 0.6% to 10,802.92.

A major index officially plunging into a bear market adds pressure on the Biden administration, which has sought to redefine the formal definition of an economic recession following consecutive quarters of economic decline, the traditional benchmark.