The Dow Jones Industrial index stumbled 626.15 points, or 1.5%, to close Tuesday at 40,936.93.
The S&P 500 slid 119.47 points, or 2.1%, to 5,528.93.
The NASDAQ collapsed 577.33 points, or 3.3%, to 17,136.30.
Stocks felt downward pressure as Nvidia, the high-flying artificial intelligence darling that has captured investor attention for more than a year, dropped more than 8%. It was one of several semiconductor stocks including Micron, KLA and Advanced Micro Devices seeing declines in the session.
Tuesday’s moves kick off the new trading month after the three major averages finished August with gains. U.S. markets were closed Monday due to the Labour Day holiday.
Investors will get their first major economic report of the month on Friday, when the U.S. government releases the August jobs report. Wall Street will also have to contend with seasonal headwinds, as September has been the worst month on average for the S&P 500 over the last 10 years.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury faltered, raising yields to 3.84% from Friday’s 3.91%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices skidded $3.24 to $70.31 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices settled $3.70 to $2,523.90