U.S. Stocks Tumble as China Slowdown Deepens Concerns on Growth

U.S. stocks joined a worldwide selloff, after equities’ worst month in more than three years, amid continuing concerns that China’s slowdown will weigh on the global economy.

Energy shares fell for the first time in five sessions as oil lost 7.2 percent after the commodity’s strongest three-day rally since 1990. Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips slumped more than 3.7 percent. Banks were also among the hardest hit, with Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. losing at least 3.8 percent. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. dropped 7.4 percent to lead the decline in raw-materials.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slid 2.6 percent to 1,920.14 at 1 p.m. in New York, following the benchmark’s biggest monthly slide since May 2012. It’s a sour start to September, historically the worst month of the year with the equity gauge falling 1.1 percent on average going back to 1927, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 421.71 points, or 2.6 percent, to 16,106.32. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 2.3 percent.

“The problem is, as much as China is the catalyst for this, it’s also that we’re seeing weakness in fundamentals here,” said Matt Maley, an equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co LLC in New York. “A lot of company earnings were hurt by China in the second quarter and it’s only gotten worse. People are losing confidence with the whole situation there breaking down, not just in the stock market but in data as well.”

Equities dropped in Asia, with the Shanghai Composite Index slumping as much as 4.8 percent, after manufacturing reports pointed to a deepening Chinese economic slowdown.

Read More: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-01/u-s-index-futures-drop-after-s-p-500-s-worst-month-since-2012