US Stocks: Bear Market Looms As S&P 500 Futures Slide Before Wall Street Opens

Amid the global market crash triggered by the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, the S&P 500 futures shed over 4% on Monday, indicating that the Wall Street's widest index may to enter bear market as the trading session opens.

The futures, however, pared some of the losses closer to the start of the market hours. At 6:54 am (EST), the S&P 500 futures were down 1.54% at 5,031.5. This suggests that the index is poised to be down by around 18.2% from its recent peak as the US markets open, pushing it closer to the bear territory.

A decline of more than 20% from the highs clocked in recent period is seen as the onset of bear market.

The futures of Dow Jones Industrial Average declined, after plunging nearly 3.5%, were down 1.83% at 37,824 at 6:54 am (EST) on Monday, down by nearly 16% from its recent peak.

Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 already entered into bear market last week. Its futures slipped further by 3.69% to 16,892.25 at 5:52 am (EST), down by around 24% from its recent high.

The US market has been battered since April 2, in the aftermath of Trump announcing reciprocal tariffs on all trading partners, including friends and foes.

The S&P 500 had plunged 6% on Friday, in one of the worst slides since the Covid-19 outbreak in March 2020, to close at 5,074.08. The Nasdaq 100 had settled 6.07% lower at 17,397.7, whereas Dow Jones ended the session 5.5% lower at 38,314.86.

Major global markets on Monday felt the ripple effect, with Japan's Nikkei 225 sliding 7.8% to 31,136.58, South Korea's KOSPI falling 5.57% to 2,328.2, Hong Kong's Hang Sang Index plunging 13.22% to 19,828.3, and mainland China's Shanghai Composite Index declining 7.34% to 3,096.58.

The Indian stock market also felt the wrath of global headwinds on Monday, with the benchmark NSE Nifty 50 falling up to 5% to 21,743.65 intraday, but recovering from the losses to some extent as the trading session closed. The frontline index settled 2.89% lower at 22,242.3.

The wider index, BSE Sensex, plunged 5.2% or over 3,000 points to 71,425.01. However, it recovered partially to settle 2.71% lower at 73,321.05.