NEW YORK: A steep fall in commodity prices led the stock market to its worst day this year on Monday, as worries about the global economy resurfaced.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 265 points, its biggest loss in five months.
The first trigger came from China. News that the world’s second-largest economy slowed unexpectedly pummeled oil, copper and other commodities. In the stock market, companies that produce oil and mine for metals fared the worst. A slowdown in China, a huge importer of basic materials like copper, would stymie profits at those companies.
“The weak data out of China is spooking a lot of investors,” said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at the brokerage BTIG.
Oil prices hit their lowest level since mid-December, and gold plunged below $1,400 an ounce for the first time in two years as a sell-off in metals continued from last week. The Dow lost 265.86 points to close at 14,599.20, a drop of 1.8 percent. Caterpillar, a maker of heavy equipment, fell 3 percent to $82.27. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slumped 36.48 points to 1,552.37, a loss of 2.3 percent.
The Nasdaq composite fell 78.46 points, or 2.4 percent, to 3,216.49.
Gold dropped $140 to $1,361 an ounce, a 9 percent fall.