US market is in a correction

Updated: 6:45 p.m. ET.

If you accept the definition of a market correction as a 10% decline from a recent top, the U.S. stock market, as of today, is officially in a correction -- its first since the March 9, 2009, market bottom.

Officially because the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU), the Standard & Poor's 500 Index ($INX) and the Nasdaq Composite Index ($COMPX) have all fallen more than 10% since peaking in April.

The Dow finished the day down 10.2% from its April 26 closing high -- losing 1,136 points in the process. The S&P 500 is off 12% from its April 23 close, and the Nasdaq is off 12.9%.

The correction is quite broad. Seven of the 10 sectors of the S&P 500 are in a correction: energy, materials, industrial, consumer discretionary, health, financial and technology.

The hardest-hit group is the financial sector, down 16.6%. Consumer staples, telecom and utilities are down "only" 6% or more.

Globally, much of the world is correcting, with a few notable exceptions: Germany's Dax Index ($DE:DAX) is off 7.3% since peaking in April. Toronto's S&P/TSE Composite ($CA:OSPTX) is down 6.6%, and India's Sensex Index is off 8.1%.

Among the markets that are hardest hit are China, where the Shanghai Composite Index is off 23.4% since Nov. 23, 2009; Spain, whose IBEX 35 Index ($ES:IB) is off 24.2% since Jan. 6; and Brazil, where the Bovespa Index is down 18.9% since April 8.

All 30 Dow stocks have fallen since the index's April 26 high. The hardest hit are Intel (INTC), down 30%e Alcoa (AA), down more than 21%; American Express (AXP), down more than 18%; and Boeing (BA), down more than 15%.

The least-affected are Kraft Foods (KFT), down 3.2%; Procter & Gamble (PG), down 3.6%;  Coca-Cola (KO), down about 4.1%; and Verizon Communications (VZ), down 4.1%.

Among non-Dow stocks, Apple (AAPL) is off 12.3% since April 23. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX) is down 27.2% since April 6. Macy's (M) has slid 18%, and Ford (F) is off 25.3% since April 26.