U.S. stocks took a beating in what is described as the worst Christmas Eve trading ever, as the S&P 500 entered a bear market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased by 653 points Monday in volatile trading, falling below 22,000.

The Dow sank more than 2 percent, then recovered nearly all of the day’s losses, before again falling more than 2 percent.

The S&P 500 dropped 2.7 percent, slipping into a bear market as it fell 20.06 percent from recent highs.

Wall Street traditionally considers a drop of 20 percent or more from recent highs to be a bear market. The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 2.2 percent.

Readers Bureau

Edited by Jesus Chan

Do you want to add feedback to this story? Please add a comment in the e-mail box below.

Like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TheReadersBureau

Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/readersbureau21