Monday’s losses came as investors anticipated a potentially volatile week of trading as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is set to deliver comments on inflation at the central bank’s annual Jackson Hole economic symposium.
“When you see the market right now dropping like this, this is the market saying the Fed has to be more aggressive to slow the economy down further” to bring down inflation, said Robert Cantwell, portfolio manager at Upholdings.
Tech stocks declined amid concerns about more aggressive rate hikes from the Fed, with Amazon falling 3.62% and Netflix stock dropping 6.06% after research company CFRA downgraded the stock.
Semiconductor stocks also declined, with Nvidia stock dropping 4.57%.
The 10-year treasury yield was trading above 3% Monday, its highest level since July 20, after falling as bonds rallied along with stocks during the summer.
Oil futures were volatile, as West Texas Intermediate crude oil, the U.S. benchmark, fell below $87 per barrel Monday morning before rising back to near $90 per barrel amid news of possible production cuts from Saudi Arabia.
Bitcoin fell below $21,000 briefly after it and fellow cryptocurrency ethereum both fell 8% on Friday.
Meme stocks remained in focus Monday, with shares of AMC plummeting 41.95% as its new preferred share class began trading under the ticker symbol “APE.”