Wall Street’s losses worsen as markets fall worldwide

NEW YORK — Stocks racked up more losses on Wall Street on Monday, leaving the S&P 500 at its lowest point in more than a year.

The sell-off came as renewed worries about China’s economy piled on top of global financial markets already battered by rising interest rates.

The S&P 500 gave up 3.2%, adding to its losses following its fifth straight weekly loss, its longest such streak in more than a decade.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2% and the Nasdaq pulled back 4.3% as tech-oriented stocks again took the brunt of the selloff. Monday’s sharp drop leaves the S&P 500, Wall Street’s main measure of health, down 16.8% from its record set early this year.

The sell-off on Wall Street followed a worldwide swoon for markets. Not only did stocks fall across Europe and much of Asia, but so did everything from old-economy crude oil to new-economy bitcoin. Bond yields and the price of gold, also fell.

Among U.S. stocks, the energy sector, a star performer in recent weeks, accounted for some of the sharpest declines as energy prices fell. Marathon Oil and APA Corp. each sank more than 14%.

“Basically, investors are finding it very difficult to find a place to hide,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. “The traditional safe havens, such as defensive sectors or such as bonds, are not doing that well. Commodities are not doing well.”

The S&P 500 fell 132.10 to 3,991.24. The Dow dropped 653.67 points to 32,245.70. The Nasdaq slid 521.41 points to 11,623.25.

Smaller company stocks also fell broadly. The Russell 2000 gave up 77.48 points, or 4.2%, to 1,762.08.

Most of this year’s damage has been the result of the Federal Reserve’s aggressive flip away from doing everything it can to prop up financial markets and the economy. The central bank has already pulled its key short-term interest rate off its record low of near zero, where it sat for nearly all the pandemic. Last week, it signaled additional increases of double the usual amount may hit in upcoming months, in hopes of stamping out the high inflation sweeping the economy.

The moves by design will slow the economy by making it more expensive to borrow. The risk is the Fed could cause a recession if it moves too far or too quickly. In the meantime, higher rates discourage investors from paying very high prices for investments, because investors can get more than before from owning supersafe Treasury bonds instead.