Almost half of S&P 500 stocks in a bear market

By Noel Randewich

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The S&P 500 is not yet in a bear market, but nearly half of its components are.

Hurt by worries about global growth, the S&P 500 on Monday fell as much as 1.89 percent before reversing course and ending the session with a 0.17 percent gain, trimming its loss so far in December to 4.44 percent.

The S&P 500 index has been in a correction since October, defined by many investors as a drop of 10 percent or more from a high. It has not crossed the 20 percent threshold, widely viewed as the definition of a bear market.

However, 237 stocks in the S&P 500 - 47 percent of its components - on Monday were down 20 percent or more from their 52-week highs. Another 128 S&P 500 stocks had fallen 10 percent or more from their 52-week highs, but less than 20 percent.

(GRAPHIC-Half of S&P 500 stocks in bear market, https://tmsnrt.rs/2zOJImb)

The index on Monday remained down 10 percent from its Sept. 20 record high close.

Apple Inc , until recently Wall Street's most valuable company and the largest component of the S&P 500, has declined 27 percent from its record high on Oct. 3, accelerating the index's losses as investors fret over cooling demand for iPhones.

Pessimism has spread beyond the S&P 500 to smaller companies across the U.S. stock market, with hundreds of stocks hitting lows for the year on a daily basis in recent sessions.

(Stocks hitting 52-week lows, https://tmsnrt.rs/2SBWw6w)

S&P 500 components deepest in bear market territory include Nektar Therapeutics , Coty Inc and General Electric Co , each down more than 60 percent from their 52-week highs.

Microsoft Corp , which in late November dethroned Apple as Wall Street's largest company in terms of stock market value, is down 7 percent from its Oct. 3 record high.

(GRAPHIC-Bottom 10 S&P 500 stocks relative to 52-week highs, https://tmsnrt.rs/2SK1ZZh)

(Reporting by Noel Randewich; Editing by Richard Chang and Sandra Maler)