The S&P 500 officially hit a bear market territory Monday morning, after tumbling more than 20% from its recent highs in a historic and violent sell-off driven by investor panic over U.S. trade tariffs announced last week by the Trump administration.

Traders were whipsawed by a chaotic and volatile session at the start of the week, as unconfirmed tariff rumors ignited a fleeting relief rally, only to have hopes dashed moments later by an official White House denial.

The rapid turn of events underscored how jittery markets have become, with investor sentiment hanging on every headline amid intensifying fears of a global trade breakdown.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY), which tracks the benchmark index, initially nosedived to intraday lows of 4,832 points before staging a dramatic 8% rebound, gaining over 400 points in less than thirty minutes.

The catalyst? Reports that White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett had floated the idea of a 90-day global tariff pause, excluding China. Markets cheered what seemed like a policy pivot—until the White House dashed optimism, calling the rumors fake.

The S&P 500 was trading flat at 5,077 points by 11:00 a.m. in New York. The index is down 12% since last Wednesday, marking one of the fastest and deepest market crashes in post-war history, only occurred in March 2020, October 2008 and October 1987.

How Bad Could It Get? History Of S&P 500 Bear Markets Offers Clues

The current market downturn marks the 23rd such episode in nearly a century.

On average, these periods last about 341 days and involve a peak-to-trough decline of roughly 37%.

The most catastrophic drop in U.S. market history began on Sept. 7, 1929, when the index fell from 31.92 to 4.40 over 839 days, representing a devastating 83% loss—a hallmark of the Great Depression era.

During the Dot-com bust, the S&P 500 lost 49.19% from its March 2000 peak of 1,527.46, bottoming at 776.76 by October 2002, over a period of 929 days.

The 2007–2009 global financial crisis delivered one of the worst modern declines, with the S&P 500 tumbling 56.85% from 1,565.15 in October 2007 to 676.53 by March 2009—a selloff that lasted 517 days.

The COVID-19 crash in early 2020 was remarkable for both its speed and severity. Within just 33 days, the index plunged 33.93%, falling from 3,386.15 on Feb. 19, 2020, to 2,237.40 on March 23, 2020—the fastest bear market on record.

The table below captures the scale and frequency of these downturns:

Notable Bear Markets: Key Dates And Drawdowns

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