US stocks suffered their worst fall in more than six years on Monday, erasing gains for the year and punishing investors who had bet on an extended period of market calm.
The broad-based equities retreat started last week as interest rates headed higher amid concerns of returning inflation. That sell-off turned into a rout on Monday afternoon as stocks tumbled and investors returned to bonds as a safe haven. The slide continued when Asian markets opened Tuesday morning.
The pace of the afternoon equity sell-off in New York raised suspicions that investors had been forced to unwind positions in haste. At one point, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed more than 800 points in 10 minutes, taking the measure down as much as 1,600 points. Trading volume was the second highest this decade.