Investing.com – The Dow posted tripled digit losses Wednesday as plunging oil prices sent energy stocks tumbling, and a rout in global markets hurt performance.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 0.54%. The S&P 500 fell 0.76%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell about 1.23%.
U.S. stocks struggled to sidestep a rout in global markets on fears economic chaos in Turkey could spill over into emerging markets denting global growth, hurting demand for riskier assets from stocks to commodities.
Energy, meanwhile, led the downside in the broader market as oil prices slumped to settle at two-month lows on an unexpected build in U.S. crude supplies and an expansion in production for the first time in three weeks.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for September delivery fell 3% cents settle at $65.01 a barrel.
Fears of a slowdown in the global economy were exacerbated by a wave of recent negative data from China, the world second-largest economy, at time when the country is locked in a trade war with the United States.
Trade-sensitive stocks such as Boeing (NYSE:BA) and Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) fell more than 2%.
In a further sign of concerns about global growth copper, widely seen as a barometer of future economic trends, entered bear-market territory, slipping nearly 4%.
Upbeat earnings from Macy's, meanwhile, failed to lift sentiment on equities as the retailer's above-forecast earnings were overshadowed by slump in sales.
Macy’s (NYSE:M) stock fell about 16% after the department store retailer reported a second-quarter sales decline. Sales totaled $5.57 billion, down from $5.64 billion last year.
The report from Macy's arrived as investors digested mixed retail sales data.
The Commerce Department said on Wednesday that retail sales rose 0.5% last month, but June's retail sales was revised downward. The retail sales control group – which has a larger impact on U.S. GDP – rose 0.5% beating expectations for a 0.4% rise.
Tech also played a role in the sell-off in equities, as a bearish quarterly report from Tencent sent a cohort of popular stocks sharply lower.
U.S. tech heavyweights Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL) closed lower for the day.
In other corporate news, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) was reportedly served with a subpoena from the SEC as the financial regulator takes a deeper look into the electric automaker's privatisation plans and its CEO Elon Musk's statements involving "funding secured."
Top Dow Gainers and Losers Today:
Merck (NYSE:MRK), Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG), Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) among the top Dow gainers for the session.
Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) were among the worst Dow performers of the session.