The Dow Jones Industrials backtracked 347.79 points, or nearly 1%, to close out Wednesday at 35,282.89.
The S&P 500 Index slipped 63.28 points, or 1.4%, to 4,513.43.
The NASDAQ index staggered 310.47 points, or 2.2%, to 13,973.45.
Fitch Ratings cut the long-term foreign currency issuer default rating for the U.S. to AA+ from AAA Tuesday night, citing “expected fiscal deterioration over the next three years.”
Chinese tech names JD.com, Alibaba and Baidu fell more than 4% after China proposed limits on smartphone use for minors. Mega caps Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Nvidia slumped more than 2%.
Earnings season is more than halfway through with results coming in stronger than expected. Of the S&P 500 companies that have reported, about 82% have posted positive surprises. The earnings beats have added to bullish investor sentiment, continuing this year’s recovery.
Elsewhere, the latest ADP jobs report showed 324,000 private payrolls added in July. That far exceeded the jobs gains expected by economists polled by Dow Jones, but marked a decrease from June’s downwardly revised 455,000.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury tumbled, raising yields to 4.07% from Tuesday’s 4.03%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank $1.50 to $79.87 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices subtracted $7.10 to $1,971.70 U.S. an ounce.