Bear markets, crypto crashes, and tumbling tech stocks: What a way to start the week

Investors are facing steep losses for a second day in a row on Monday as markets continued to react to last week’s somber inflationary data. Here’s an update on what’s happening:

• Flirting with bears: The S&P 500 opened 2.5% lower on Monday, putting it in bear-market territory. That’s basically when an index or security falls below 20% from a recent high. The index could still rebound before the trading day is out.
• Another crypto crash: Major cryptocurrencies also fell sharply over the weekend, led by Bitcoin, which sank to lows not seen since 2020. In what some on social media are dubbing “Black Monday,” it’s at least the second major crypto crash in the last few months. Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, temporarily paused withdrawals of $BTC on Monday, due to what it called a “stuck transaction.”
• Tech stocks tumble: Embattled tech stocks took another hit on Monday, falling further and further from their high-flying days of the early pandemic, when lockdowns and shifting social habits fueled a boom in online activities. Crypto exchange platform Coinbase was among the hardest hit, with shares down more than 12% on Monday and nearly 80% year to date. Amazon was down more than 4% and Meta 3%. Overall, the tech-heavy Nasdaq was off by almost 3% on Monday and 30% year to date.

Markets are reacting in part to news on Friday that consumer prices rose 8.6% in May, the highest since 1981 and higher than experts had expected. According to a recent Financial Times poll, 70% of academic economists now expect the United States economy to slip into a recession in 2023.