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The S&P 500 is on the brink of a bear market. Here’s the threshold.

The latest bull market for U.S. stocks was on the brink of expiring Thursday afternoon, with the benchmark S&P 500 holding just shy of the threshold that marks bear territory. The S&P 500 (SPX) was down 73 points, or 1.9%, at 3,860.88 in afternoon trade, after finishing Wednesday around 18% below its record close from early January. A finish below 3,837.25 would mark a 20% fall, according to Dow Jones Market Data, meeting the widely used technical definition of a bear market.