to say it has been a rough start for the technologyheavy nasdaq composite index may be the understatement of the young year check out stockmarket warning signal here’s what surging bond yields say about sp 500 returns in next 6 months the nasdaq composite comp was off about 11 on friday since the start of 2022 at last check marking a doubledigit decline in the year’s first 14 sessions the tumble has the index on track for its worst start to a year since 2008 when it tumbled 136 in the first 14 trading days according to dow jones market data on top of that the nasdaq is now looking at its worst january performance on record dating back to the index’s inception in 1971 nearly everything that could go wrong for the benchmark has thus far it is currently in the throes of a correction after completing a decline of at least 10 from a recent peak meeting the commonly used definition for an asset correction in wall street parlance the benchmark last entered correction on march 8 and it currently stands 13 from its nov 19 record peak while also closing in on a bear market which is a decline of at least 20 from a peak read get ready for the climb here’s what history says about stockmarket returns during fed ratehike cycles the equity gauge also breached its 200day moving average which it hadn’t previously done since april of 2020 adding to a series of bearish signals for the nasdaq composite and highlighting the pain endured by investors in technology and growthoriented investments moving averages are used by market technicians to help determine bullish and bearish momentum in an asset and a trade beneath the 200day longterm average is often viewed as a the dividing line between a shortterm bearish trend and a longterm one to be sure the equity market more broadly is being sold by investors as risk appetite evaporates however tech investments have been dealt deeper losses the dow jones industrial average djia is down 55 in january and the sp 500 index spx is off 74 as they trade 44 and 54 lower for the week thus far indeed the equity market has been under siege at least partly because of the prospect of multiple interestrate increases from the federal reserve which meets again tuesday and wednesday higher rates can have a chilling effect on investments in speculative segments of the market that rely heavily on borrowing with investors discounting future cash flows talk of inflation also has put a damper on the market and is one of the key reasons compelling the us central bank to change from a regime of easymoney to one of policy tightening —ken jimenez and michael destefano contributed to this article