the nasdaq 100 is up 18 this quarter on pace for its best quarterly performance since the second quarter of 2020 the techfocused index which tracks the top 100 nonfinancial companies listed on the nasdaq exchange exited a bear market on wednesday securities enter a bear market when they fall 20 or more from a recent high they exit a bear market and enter a bull market when they rise 20 or more from a recent low the index was in bearmarket territory for 117 trading days the longest bear market since the 126 trading days ending in august 2002