Markets stage one of worst Christmas Eves ever, closing down more than 600 points as Trump blames Fed for stock losses in a tweet

U.S. stock markets suffered their steepest Christmas Eve decline in decades Monday, defying the best efforts by the Trump administration to instill confidence, and coming very close to ending a record 10-year upward run.

By the end of Monday’s shortened holiday trading session, the great bull market that began in the lows of March 2009 lay lifeless, capping a three-week, 16 percent sell-off of the S&P 500.