The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 797.42 pts or 2.37% lower to close at 32,817.38 on Mon. The broader S&P 500 index fell 2.95%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite retreated 3.62%. The small-cap Russell 2000 dropped 2.48%. Investors are fretting over what higher prices for energy and other commodities might do to economic growth.
Brent crude oil futures swung to near $140 per barrel before pulling back. The front-month Brent and WTI futures closed up $5.10 at US$123.21/bbl and $3.72 at US$119.40/bbl respectively.
Nickel, used in stainless steel and lithium-ion batteries, added more than $17,000 to trade at an almost 15-year high above $40,000 a ton. Traders are avoiding buying Russian raw materials, even though there are still no prohibitions on purchases.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note notched up 4.27 basis points (bps) to 1.7734%. The spread between two-year and 10-year Treasuries briefly dropped below 20 bps. A flattening spread often indicates a slowing economy.
Bank stocks continued their slide for a third consecutive session. Wells Fargo (WFC US) dropped 6.11% on Mon.
The iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG US) fell 0.87%. The average yield in the underlying index is now above 6%.
The most actively traded US gold futures (Apr) contracts settled up $29.30, or 1.5%, at US$1,995.90/oz. May silver, which is the most actively traded silver futures, fell 6.9 cents, or 2.7%, to end at US$25.720/oz. Bitcoin (XBTUSD) fell 3.05% to US$37,839.36 on Mon.
The ICE dollar index (DXY), which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose 0.65% to 99.293.
European equity markets finished lower on Mon. The UK FTSE lost 0.4%, France's CAC 40 fell 1.31%, while the German DAX retreated 1.98%.