Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. BABA,
fell 7.2% in premarket trading on Thursday after Chinese regulators launched an anti-monopoly investigation into the e-commerce giant, as the Associated Press reported. That sell-off put Alibaba’s shares on track to open at their lowest level since July 7. It also means the shares will open in bear market territory, which many on Wall Street say is marked by declines of 20% or more from a significant high. Since it closed at a record $ 317.14 on October 27, the stock closed a whopping 19.6% at $ 255.11 on December 15, before posting some losses to close at $ 256.18 on Wednesday. A close at or below $ 253.71 would make the bear market “official.” For comparison, the iShares MSCI China ETF MCHI,
gained 0.9% from Oct. 27 through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 SPX,
has gained 8.8%.