The stock market slumped on Monday, unable to shake off worries of a global economic slowdown and plunging oil prices.
Airlines, energy and materials stocks were among the biggest decliners. Stocks are coming off their worst week in more than two years.
The downturn leaves the Standard &Poor’s index 500 down 6.8 percent from its recent peak last month and up just 1.4 percent for the year.
Many investors remain concerned that growth in Europe and Asia could be slowing. A meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Luxembourg didn’t appear to allay those fears.
A measure of volatility soared, indicating investors are getting increasingly nervous.
“If global growth continues to weaken, the U.S. is not going to be able to sustain the kind of momentum we’ve been gaining since the first quarter,” said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial. “That’s the worry.”
A late slide in the last half-hour of trading came after an otherwise calm day in the markets. The market opened lower and wavered for much of the day between small gains and losses.
The late wave of selling was likely triggered by automated trading programs that started selling stocks when it became clear that the S&P 500 would close below an important technical level, said Randy Frederick, managing director of trading and derivatives at Schwab Center for Financial Research.
Many traders follow these levels to give them an indication about the near-term direction of the market.
In this case, the S&P 500 closed below 1,905, the 200-day moving average price for the index. The index had traded above the average since November, 2012, gaining 36 percent.