The Dow Jones Industrials tumbled 360.64 points, or 1%, to conclude Tuesday at 34,946.68
The S&P 500 index fell 51.86 points, or 1.2%, to 4,437.86.
The NASDAQ index sank 157.28 points, or 1.1%, to 13,631.05.
Financial stocks in the U.S. weakened Tuesday. Shares of JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America were lower by more than 2% after after Fitch warned it may have to downgrade credit rating dozens of banks, including JPMorgan Chase. Last week, Moody’s lowered its rating on 10 U.S. banks while putting other big institutions on a watchlist for potential downgrades.
A packed earnings week for the largest retailers kicked into gear Tuesday. Home Depot reported earnings per share and revenue that beat analyst expectations, pushing its stock 1.7% higher. Later in the week, traders will parse releases from Target and Walmart.
On the data front, July’s U.S. retail sales data came in higher than expected, indicating a stronger-than-expected consumer. Retail sales increased 0.7% month-over-month. Meanwhile, economists had estimated a 0.4% increase, according to Dow Jones.
Sentiment across the globe was downbeat after disappointing data out of China and a surprise rate cut from the country’s central bank.
Industrial production in China increased by 3.7% in July from the year-earlier period, missing expectations. Retail sales also grew less than expected from the year-earlier period. Meanwhile, the People’s Bank of China lowered rates by 15 basis points to 2.5%. However, the rate cut failed to soothe investor concerns and instead raised more worry about an emerging property crisis in China.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury dropped again, raising yields to 4.22% from Monday’s 4.19%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slipped $1.52 to $80.99 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices doffed $9.90 to $1,934.10 U.S. an ounce.