Dow Loses Over 1,000 Points In Market Slump

Wall Street has again seen big losses, as worries over interest rate hikes continued to drag markets down.

At the close, the Dow Jones was down 4.2 percent at 23,858. The S&P 500 sank 3.8 percent to 2,581, while the Nasdaq fell 3.9 percent to 6,777.

The Dow and S&P 500 have now fallen more than 10 percent from their peaks, meeting the official definition of a "correction" in financial parlance and marking an about-face from the bullishness of early 2018.

"The sellers remain in clear control right now as a lot of the excess froth we saw in January, has now been unwound or erased," said Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments.

The pullback came amid another spurt higher in Treasury bond yields, a focal point for investors concerned that the Fed may accelerate rate hikes if inflation rises suddenly.

US markets have been under pressure all week, with the Dow notching its biggest loss ever in terms of points on Monday, rallying on Tuesday and finishing modestly lower Wednesday. (AFP)