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1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks plunge to start September

Xinhua, September 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks suffered big losses Tuesday, with all three major indices tumbling over 2.8 percent, as a renewed broad-based sell-off around the world rattled nervous investors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 469.68 points, or 2.84 percent, to 16,058.35. The S&P 500 sank 58.33 points, or 2.96 percent, to 1,913.85. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 140.40 points, or 2.94 percent, to 4,636.10.

Tokyo equities dived with its benchmark Nikkei stocks index plunging 3.84 percent Tuesday amid weak performances in other stocks markets.

Chinese shares slumped for a second day Tuesday on weak economic data, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dipping 1.23 percent to end at 3,166.62 points.

China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) came in at 49.7 in August, down from 50 for July and the lowest since August 2012, according to official data released Tuesday morning.

European stocks also ended sharply lower Tuesday, with British benchmark FTSE 100 Index dropping 3.03 percent, as the heavy fall across the board weighed on market sentiment.

Adding more pessimism to the market, U.S. economic data came out negative. The U.S. August manufacturing PMI registered 51.1 percent, a decrease of 1.6 percentage points from the July reading of 52.7 percent, said the Institute Supply Management (ISM) Tuesday.

The latest figure missed market consensus of 52.8 percent and notched the lowest reading since May 2013.

"If weakness in commodity prices and global trade do not prove to be transitory, the manufacturing sector will struggle to contribute meaningfully to growth in the second half of the year," said Jay Morelock, an economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

Meanwhile, the Department of Commerce announced Tuesday that construction spending during July 2015 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,083.4 billion U.S. dollars, up 0.7 percent from the revised June estimate, slightly below market expectations.

Oil prices snapped a three-day rally to plummet about 8 percent Tuesday, dragging the energy sector down 3.66 percent as the biggest laggard among the S&P 500's ten sectors, which also dampened Wall Street sentiment. Endit