Stocks post worst start to April since the Great Depression

The stock market’s start to the second quarter was its worst since the Great Depression.

With the S&P 500 closing down more than 2.2 percent Monday, the broad market index posted its worst start to April since 1929, according to S&P Global.

The index also closed below its 200-day moving average – a key technical level – for the first time since June 2016, 442 straight days.

Bespoke Investments Co-Founder Justin Walters, who also noted the historic nature of the close, said in an email that equity fears aren’t likely to abate until earnings arrive.

“Based on recent market action, the bears clearly have control right now,” Walters wrote. “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.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.9 percent – or 458 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.