A death cross appears when the 50-day moving average crosses below the 200-day moving average, an event that many chart watchers view as marking the spot a shorter-term correction morphs into a longer-term downtrend.
A number of other assets have seen death crosses materialize, including the technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +2.07% in mid February. The decline in the broader market was taking hold, with safe-haven assets, including gold GC00, +1.94% and benchmark 10-year Treasury notes TMUBMUSD10Y, 1.868%, generally drawing bidding, as a intensifying clash in Eastern Europe, raises the prospects of a slowdown in the global economy and a jump in values of commodities.