Stock market logs worst start to a year for 2 decades

Wall Street investors couldn't share roads by 2018 fast enough, but it turns out that 2019 sets up to be just as ugly against stock market bullies.

According to Dow Jones Market Data, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

DJIA, -2.83%

and the S & P 500 index

SPX, -2.48%

noted its worst start of a year since 2000.

Of course, it represents only two sessions, but it is worth noting that the wider market managed to oak out weak gains on Wednesday, the day after New Year's Day, when most major indices were closed.

However, Thursday marked a markedly different and perhaps more boring story, with the Dow ending with a 2.8% loss, S & P 500 ended 2.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index

COMP, -3.04%

ordered a 3% decrease.

Read: Opinion: Apple lives up to Wall Street's fear of massive income shortage

MarketWatch's computer team says Dow's loss marks the worst start of a year since 2000, when the blue-track tracker fell 4.34% in those two first trading days. S & P 500 Thursday's drop represents the worst start since 2000 when it fell 4.75%.

At the same time, Nasdaq's skid was the worst start of a year since 2005.

Loss on the stock market was partly driven by a one-two blow with downbeat news. Apple Inc .

AAPL, -9.96%

late Wednesday issued a rare decrease in sales forecast for the last quarter. So Thursday morning the Department of Supply Management said its production index fell to 54.1 in December, down from 59.3 in November and below 57.9 expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch economists.

Check out: S & P 500 nail resistance (2,520), pulls in among Apple-fueled volatility

These data rattled an already fragile market that has been agonizing over the possibility of a recession taking root in the US economy.

If there is any consolation, it is very early in the year, and as 2018 can attest, much can be changed.