Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)
U.S. stocks skidded Monday to their lowest level in more than a year. Retailers and technology stocks were sinking, and health insurers and hospitals were falling after a federal judge in Texas ruled that the 2010 Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional.
Some of the biggest losses went to utilities and real estate companies, which have done better than the rest of the market during the turbulence of the last three months.
The benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 index slid 54.01 points, or 2.1%, to 2,545.94.
The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 507.53 points, or 2.1%, at 23,592.98.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite declined 156.93 points, or 2.3%, to 6,753.73.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks declined 32.67 points, or 2.3%, to 1,378.14.
The S&P 500 dropped in early trading and briefly recovered before falling again. The U.S. benchmark index has fallen more than 13% since its record high in late September. The Russell 2000 has done significantly worse: It's down more than 20% since it finished at its last record high at the end of August. Wall Street calls a 20% decline a “bear market,” and it's considered a major downturn.
The S&P Small Cap 600 index went into a bear market Friday as investors continue to lose confidence in the U.S. economy's growth prospects. Smaller companies are considered more vulnerable in a downturn than larger companies because they are more dependent on economic growth and tend to have higher levels of debt.
The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates again Wednesday, the fourth increase of this year. It's been raising rates over the last three years, and investors will want to know if the Fed is scaling back its plans for further increases based on the turmoil in the stock market over the last few months and mounting evidence that world economic growth is slowing down.
China and the United States clashed again over their respective trade policies Monday, as China criticized what it calls a “unilateralist and protectionist” approach to trade. The U.S. ambassador to the World Trade Organization said those critiques were unwarranted. The two nations have been embroiled in a dispute over technology policy and other issues for most of this year. With no end to the conflict in sight, investors are growing more concerned that the tensions will drag down the already-slowing global economy.
Benchmark U.S. crude fell 2.6% to $49.88 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 1.1% to $59.61 a barrel in London.
British Prime Minister Theresa May said Parliament will vote Jan. 14 on her deal setting terms for Britain's departure from the European Union. She canceled a vote on the deal last week because it was clear legislators were going to reject it. May insists she can save the deal, but pressure is mounting for either a vote by lawmakers or a new referendum on the issue.
Britain is scheduled to leave the EU in late March, and if it does so without a deal in place governing their trade and economic relationships, it could bring huge disruptions to the British and European economies and financial markets.
