Small-cap stocks enter bear market, with Russell 2000 benchmark down 20% from highs

After Monday's decline, the Russell 2000 benchmark is now down 20 percent from its all-time high hit in late August. Small caps had outperformed their large peers earlier in the year on bets that domestic-focused companies would be immune to the trade tensions. "Small caps are riskier than large caps, and there are some concerns about the end of a cycle in the U.S. and that we are entering a recession," said Tobias Levkovich, chief U.S. equity strategist at Citi.