Bear Market
The name is usually traced to the way a bear attacks, swiping its claws downward, which is a fair description of how one feels from the inside. A bear market is the mirror of a bull market: a sustained fall in prices, typically 20% or more from a recent high, usually paired with widespread pessimism about the economy.
Bear markets are where long-term investors are made or broken, usually by how they react rather than by the losses themselves.
Selling during a downturn locks in losses that a recovery might otherwise have erased. Every major bear market in Indian history, including 2008 and the 2020 pandemic crash, was eventually followed by a recovery to new highs. That is not a guarantee for the next one, but it is why staying invested is the default advice from most financial planners.
During the 2020 pandemic crash, the Sensex fell close to 38% in about two months, a fast and frightening bear market. It recovered all of that loss within about eight months and went on to set new records, a reminder that bear markets, however painful, have historically been temporary.