The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday, June 14, edition that North American stock markets plunged on Monday, as Canada's main index fell back into correction territory and the S&P 500 index entered a bear market. A Canadian Press dispatch to The Globe reports that the S&P/TSX Composite Index suffered its second-worst day of the year, ending down 2.6 per cent -- 10.6 per cent below its record closing high in March. The S&P 500 is now firmly in bear-market territory. The decrease in stock prices is being driven by fears about inflation, as well as investor concerns about the rapid increases central banks are making to their policy interest rates in order to bring inflation under control. Technology shares, which are particularly sensitive to higher rates, lost 3.6 per cent, with shares of cloud-based commerce platform company Lightspeed Commerce down 14.4 per cent. The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart as investors raised bets on how high central banks would lift interest rates to tackle inflation. Interest rates are a blunt tool, and their effect on the economy is delayed, making it difficult for central banks to know if they have gone too far before it is too late.