Goldman Sachs Sees Potential S&P 500 Bear Market on Europe

An intensifying financial crisis in Spain or elsewhere in Europe has the potential to drive American stocks into a bear market, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s chief U.S. equity strategist said.

While David Kostin’s mid-year forecast for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index calls for a 3.7 percent gain from last week’s close to 1,325, he said the measure may fall to 1,125 should the situation in Europe worsen. That would give the S&P 500 a more-than 20 percent loss since its 2012 closing peak of 1,419.04.