Dow Jones faces worst day since Aug. 5, sheds over 600 points

US stocks fell during September’s first session, as economic data renewed concerns about a slowdown in US economic growth, amid selling pressure on semiconductor stocks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 626 points, or 1.5%, closing at 40,936 points, to record the worst daily performance since Aug. 5 when the index dropped 1,033 points.

S&P 500 dipped 2.1%, or 119 points, to end at 5,528 points, while Nasdaq Composite plunged 3.25%, or 577 points, to finish at 17,136 points.

Likewise, Nvidia, Intel, Micron Technology and AMD shares fell 9.55%, 8.8%, 7.95% and 7.8%, respectively.

Elsewhere, STOXX Europe 600 closed 0.95% lower at 519.8 points, the lowest since Aug. 27 (518.8 points), pressured by losses in the mining, energy and technology sectors.

The British FTSE 100 fell 0.8% to 8,298 points, and the French CAC 40 index tumbled 0.95% to 7,575 points. The German DAX index shed nearly the same percentage to 18,747 points.

In Japan, Nikkei index remained stable at 38,686 points, while TOPIX inched up 0.65%, to 2,733 points.

Brent crude futures for November delivery dropped 4.15%, or $3.18, to $73.75 per barrel.

WTI crude for October delivery decreased 4.35%, or $3.21, to $70.34 per barrel.

Regarding gold, futures prices for December delivery lost 0.2%, or $4.6, to $2,523 per ounce, the lowest since Aug. 22 ($2,516.7).

US manufacturing activity contracted for the 21st time in the past 22 months, as weak demand and investment weighed on monetary policy and election uncertainty.

The Institute for Supply Management’s Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell to 47.2 points, while S&P Global showed that the manufacturing PMI fell to 47.9 points in August.