"Disastrous day" for US stocks

August 21 was recorded as the most disastrous day in nearly four years for the US stock market when all major stock indexes "lost" all the gains they had made since the beginning of 2015.

Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange on August 20. Photo: AFP/TTXVN

According to data from the New York electronic trading floor, in the last trading session before closing on August 21, the Dow Jones industrial index of 30 large US corporations fell 530.94 points, equivalent to 3.12%, to 16,459.75 points.

The Standard & Poor 500 index lost 3.19%, or 64.84 points, to 1,970.89 points. The Nasdaq Composite index lost the most, down 3.52%, or 171.45 points, to 4,706.04 points.

This is the worst day for the three largest stock indexes in the US market in nearly 4 years. August 21 is also the second consecutive day that these stock indexes have fallen.

Thus, over the past week, the Dow Jones lost a total of 5.8% in value while the Nasdaq Composite lost 6.8% in value, “wiping out” what these two indexes had achieved since the beginning of 2015. On August 21, up to 8 out of 10 sectors with stocks that are members of the Standard & Poor 500 fell into the “red zone”.

On August 21 alone, 10.36 million shares were traded as investors had many reasons to sell off. Technology and energy stocks were hit the hardest on August 21, losing an average of 4.21% and 3.48%, respectively.

Investors sold off stocks after receiving information about the most disappointing slowdown since 2009 in China's industrial production, increasing concerns about the state of the world's second-largest economy, according to experts.

In addition, inconsistent information about when the US Federal Reserve (FED) will raise its base interest rate for the first time since December 2008 also makes investors uneasy.

According to VNA/News