Wall Street Just Had Its Worst Day Since June

Stocks fell broadly on Wall Street Monday, extending the market’s losses amid worries about inflation and the path ahead for the economy. The S&P 500 shed 2.1%, its biggest drop since mid-June. Some 95% of stocks in the benchmark index lost ground, the AP reports. It finished in the red last week, breaking a four-week winning streak. The index fell 90.49 points to 4,137.99. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 643.13 points, or 1.9%, to 33,063.61. The Nasdaq fell 323.64 points, or 2.5%, to 12,381.57. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 41.60 points, or 2.1%, to 1,915.74.

Technology companies and retailers had some of the heaviest losses. Microsoft fell 2.9% and Target fell 3.1%. Netflix fell 6.1%. Movie theater operators were volatile following a report that Cineworld is considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The industry is still struggling to recover from the virus pandemic. AMC Entertainment's common shares plunged 42% in volatile trading as investors weighed the Cineworld news and the firm's new preferred share class, which made its debut Monday, CNBC reports. Cinemark fell 5.8%. Bright spots in the market included Signify Health, which jumped 32.2% after the Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon would bid for the company.

The broader market's losses come on the heels of a weeks-long rally. Investors are trying to figure out where the economy goes from here as stubbornly hot inflation hurts businesses and consumers. Record-high inflation also has investors focusing on central banks and their efforts to fight high prices without further damaging economic growth. Investors are looking ahead to this week’s Federal Reserve conference. "You’ve had quite a rally and there’s reason to not be sure where we’re going from here," says Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager with Globalt Investments. "There's still decent potential for a recession." (More stock market stories.)