Dow Jones Industrial Average plunges 494 points
The Dow fell 494.42 points, or 1.86%, to close at 26,078.62 The S&P 500 lost 1.79% to end the day at 2,887.61. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.56% to 7,785.24. Wednesday's drop added to Wall Street's poor start to the fourth quarter. The Dow is now down 838 points in two days.
Recession fears dent Wall Street again
Stocks fell as investors fretted once again over the state of the U.S. economy. On Tuesday, data from the Institute for Supply Management showed U.S. manufacturing activity slowed to its lowest level in more than 10 years. Economic concerns grew Wednesday after data from ADP and Moody's Analytics reflected a slowdown in the growth pace of hirings.
President Donald Trump chimed in, tweeting that Democrats pushing for his impeachment were driving the stock market lower. "All of this impeachment nonsense, which is going nowhere, is driving the Stock Market, and your 401K's, down. But that is exactly what the Democrats want to do," he said.
Apple and industrial stocks lead the decline
Shares of big tech companies led Wednesday's drop, with Alphabet and Apple both falling more than 2%. Amazon also declined by 1.29% while Microsoft slid 1.76%. Industrial stocks such as Eaton and United Rentals also contributed to the losses, dropping 3.76% and 3%, respectively.
What happens next?
Investors will look ahead to the release of ISM's nonmanufacturing data report. After the dismal manufacturing data, Wall Street wants to see how the consumer — which makes up a far bigger chunk of the economy — is faring in this environment. Read more here.