US Markets

Dow drops more than 100 points, posts 4-day losing streak as Turkey crisis continues to rattle investors

Key Points
  • U.S. stocks fall as the Turkish lira hits a record low, rattling investors around the world.
  • The Dow and S&P 500 post four-day losing streaks.
  • "Turkey's problems are so big that they will require something very special to short-circuit the crisis," says Jose Luis Daza, chief investment officer at QSR Capital Management.
Veteran trader Art Cashin on why markets rolled over
VIDEO2:5302:53
Veteran trader Art Cashin on why markets rolled over

Stocks slipped on Monday as a financial crisis in Turkey that sent its currency tumbling last week worsened, dampening investor sentiment around the world.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 125.44 points to close at 25,187.70, with Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan Chase both falling more than 1 percent. The 30-stock index also posted its fourth straight day of losses, its longest losing streak since June.

The declined 0.4 percent to 2,821.93 as materials and energy lagged, posting its first four-day losing streak since March. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.25 percent to 7,819.71, but gains in Amazon and Apple rose 1 percent kept losses in check.

Materials dropped 1 percent, led lower by shares of Mosaic, which fell 3.6 percent. Energy shares also fell 1.2 percent as U.S. crude hit a seven-week low.

"Investors are generally going to be more cautious with a story like Turkey out there," said Jennifer Ellison, principal at BOS. "It's going to hold people off from taking significant risk for a short period of time ... but if you take a step back and look at the bigger picture, things are good."

The Turkish lira, which briefly tumbled more than 20 percent on Friday, reached a fresh record low on Monday before regaining some footing.

Tensions between the U.S. and Turkey increased last week after a Turkish delegation returned from Washington with no apparent progress on , who is charged with supporting a group blamed for an attempted coup in 2016.

Larry Benedict, CEO of The Opportunistic Trader, said the move is being felt across the globe. "Markets across the board going from China all through Europe were lower," he said. Benedict added the market thinks this will work itself out, but added that investors may not be thinking about the potential negatives of the situation.

Drew Angerer | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Turkey's central bank tried to assuage global investors' fears on Monday, stating it will provide as much liquidity as needed to the country's banks. The central bank also said it will keep monitoring the situation closely. The Turkish economy has been reeling recently as its inflation rate reached , well above the central bank's 5 percent target.

Emerging-market stocks fell broadly on Monday, with the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets exchange-traded fund (EEM) dropping 1.6 percent. The ETF also closed 18.4 percent below its 52-week high, dangerously close to entering bear market. Turkish shares led the way lower as they dropped 11 percent. They plunged more than 14 percent on Friday.

"Turkey's problems are so big that they will require something very special to short-circuit the crisis," said Jose Luis Daza, chief investment officer at QSR Capital Management, on CNBC's "Squawk Box."

"The crisis is, at the current stage, a foreign-exchange crisis. It will most-likely mutate into a … credit crisis. Turkish corporations are heavily indebted in dollars. The central bank has the lowest level of net international reserves of all emerging markets," Daza said. "All of these things are hitting them together."

European stocks also declined as the Stoxx 600 index pulled back 0.3 percent. The German Dax also slipped 0.5 percent.

Omar Aguilar, chief investment officer of equities at Charles Schwab Investment Management, said the Turkey situation, as well as lingering trade fears, would lead to "higher volatility" near term, but noted he would buy when stocks decline.

"In the medium-to-long run, the strong economic growth and very strong earnings growth will lead the market higher," said Aquilar. "There's a lot of support for stocks because of those strong fundamentals."

Tesla shares rose 0.3 percent after CEO Elon Musk said a Saudi fund wants to take the company private. The stock rose nearly 2 percent after the announcement, but quickly pared those gains.