S&P 500 drops below August lows
Selling on Wall Street picked just before midday in New York, with the S&P 500 at its August 2015 lows of 1,867 points - after having dipped below it - as of 17:53GMT, triggered by worries about China and another sharp drop in energy quotes.
That stockmarket gauge was lower 2.4% to 1,865 points, alongside drops of 2.97% or 486 points in the Dow Jones Industrials Average to 15,892.
The technology heavy Nasdaq Composite was lower by 3.66% or 169 points to 4,446.
A violent downdraft in the the commodities pits took was taking front month West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures down by 6.49% to $29.30 per barrel in NYMEX trading - a fresh 12-year low.
Benchmark 10-year US Treasury notes benefited from the weakness in stocks, pushing yields down by eight basis points to 2.01%.
At one point in the session, Treasury yields traded below 2.0% mark.
Earlier in the day, two Fed officials, the presidents of the US Fed banks of New York and San Francisco, put a brave face on the gyrations in capital markets, expressing their confidence in the economic outlook despite financial markets having largely priced out all but one additional interest rate rise from the central bank in 2015.
Earlier in the day reports that the People's Bank of China had injected $15bn into the country's financial system to sustain liquidity raised new concerns about financial strains in the largest economy in that hemisphere.
So did a report that some lenders in China had stopped taking stock in smaller listed companies as collateral for loans. Selling in the US ahead of the long holiday weekend and the expiration of options may also have played a hand.
The Shanghai Composite index fell 3.5%, closing in bear market territory, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 1.5%. A bear market is when the price of an asset drops 20% from its peak. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 also finished in bear market territory.
To take note of, City sources suggested to Digital Look that hedge funds were lowering their exposure to the oil market in forward calls for front month placings.
Speculation that Iranian oil exports could start returning to the market as soon as Monday were cited as another factor.
Selling ahead of the long holiday weekend Stateside and the expiry of options might also be weighing on the stockmarket.
S&P 500 - Risers
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $55.69 +8.14%
General Growth Properties Inc. (GGP) $26.75 +3.68%
Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) $17.60 +1.91%
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG) $461.00 +1.47%
Tiffany & Co. (TIF) $67.53 +1.00%
AbbVie Inc (ABBV) $55.08 +0.95%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $65.08 +0.93%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $70.43 +0.33%
Public Storage (PSA) $250.14 +0.16%
AvalonBay Communities Inc. (AVB) $176.33 +0.09%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Chubb Corp. (CB) $108.06 -15.09%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $7.84 -13.56%
CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX) $4.89 -12.99%
Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) $3.76 -10.69%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $3.32 -10.51%
Transocean Ltd. (RIG) $9.50 -9.87%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $23.41 -9.82%
Qorvo, Inc. (QRVO) $35.67 -9.51%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $29.80 -8.98%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $6.66 -8.77%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $29.80 -8.98%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $54.35 -5.31%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $94.06 -5.10%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $59.13 -5.04%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $50.75 -4.44%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $154.44 -4.31%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $81.88 -4.20%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $23.66 -4.06%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $85.66 -3.76%
Visa Inc. (V) $71.08 -3.69%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $55.69 +8.14%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $65.08 +0.93%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Nxp Semiconductors Nv (NXPI) $67.05 -10.01%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $29.80 -8.98%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $10.99 -8.60%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $36.10 -8.03%
Vimpelcom Ltd Ads (VIP) $2.92 -8.02%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $74.81 -7.63%
NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $21.51 -7.34%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $66.71 -7.28%
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $60.02 -7.00%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $26.77 -6.63%