The Dow started the fourth quarter badly, falling more than 300 points in early afternoon trading, potentially its biggest one-day loss since late August.
- At 1:15 p.m. ET, the blue-chip index was off 1.1%. The S&P 500 was down 1.1% and the Nasdaq Composite was off 0.9%. The decline comes as the stock market has been stalled just below its all-time highs in July. Twenty-seven of the 30 Dow stocks were lower, with 3M (NYSE:MMM) and Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) the biggest decliners, off 3.3% and 3.2%, respectively. Visa (NYSE:V) is the leader, up 1.1%.
- The selloff was set off by a weaker-than-expected report on U.S. manufacturing from the Institute for Supply Management. It's a signal that the U.S.-China trade fight plus economic slowdowns elsewhere, especially in Europe, are taking a toll on U.S. manufacturing.
- The selloff sent interest rates lower, with the 10-Year Treasury yield falling to 1.637% from 1.673% on Monday.
