After moving sharply lower earlier in the session, stocks continue to see significant weakness in mid-day trading on Wednesday. The steep pullback on the day has more than offset the gains posted in the previous session.
In recent trading, the major averages have seen some further downside, hitting new lows for the session. The Dow is down 214.36 points or 1.2 percent at 17,562.55, the Nasdaq is down 75.12 points or 1.5 percent at 4,922.34 and the S&P 500 is down 28.22 points or 1.4 percent at 2,053.12.
The sell-off on Wall Street comes as Chinese stocks extended their recent steep decline, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index plummeting 5.9 percent to a four-month low despite a series of market-stabilizing measures by authorities.
Almost half of China's roughly 2,800 listed firms announced trading halts as increasing signs of deleveraging drove down stocks across the board. There were fears that a prolonged slump would cause systematic risk for the country's financial system.
Traders are also keeping an eye on the latest developments regarding the Greek debt crisis after European leaders set Sunday as the final deadline for Greece to reach an agreement on a new bailout.
At a press conference, European Council President Donald Tusk said, "The situation is really critical and unfortunately we can't exclude a black scenario if there is no agreement by Sunday."
"Until now I have avoided talking about deadlines, but tonight I have to say it loud and clear that the final deadline ends this week," he added.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras failed to present a detailed reform blueprint at a meeting of finance ministers on Tuesday. The Greek government now has until Thursday to submit a plan.
Recently, some additional negative sentiment was generated by news that the New York Stock Exchange has temporarily suspended trading in all symbols.
The suspension of trading on the NYSE is reportedly due to technical issues, with the exchange saying it will provide additional information as soon as possible.
Later this afternoon, trading could be impacted by reaction to the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting.
The minutes from the June meeting, which are due to be released at 2 pm ET, could shed some light on the outlook for interest rates.
Sector News
Steel stocks continue to see substantial weakness in mid-day trading, reflecting concerns about the outlook for global demand. The NYSE Arca Steel Index is down by 3 percent, on pace to set a new six-year closing low.
Mechel (MTL), Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF), and AK Steel (AKS) are turning in some of the steel sector's worst performances.
Considerable weakness also remains visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 2.7 percent loss being posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The index if currently poised the end the session at its worst closing level in five months.
Oil service stocks have also moved sharply lower on the day, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 2.1 percent. The weakness in the sector comes as crude oil for August delivery is falling $1.07 to $51.26 a barrel.
Natural gas, electronic storage, biotechnology and telecom are also under pressure in mid-day trading, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved sharply lower along with the Chinese market. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index tumbled by 3.1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index plunged by 5.8 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.9 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index climbed 0.8 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.
In the bond market, treasuries are showing a lack of direction after rising sharply over the past few sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by less than a basis point at 2.237 percent.
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