Investing.com - A poor factory report sent U.S. stocks plunging on Monday by stoking fears that Friday's January jobs report will disappoint as well, a sign the U.S. economy could be hitting a soft patch.
At the close of U.S. trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.08%, the S&P 500 index fell 2.28%, while the Nasdaq Composite index fell 2.61%.
Stocks took a nosedive after the Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing index fell to a seven-month low in January, as new orders slumped.
The ISM’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index came in at 51.3 in January, down from 57.0 in December.
Analysts were expecting the index to inch down to 56.4 in January.
The report added new order growth fell at its fastest rate in 33 years, with the new orders index dropping to 51.2 from 64.4 in December. The employment index fell from 55.8 in December to 52.3, the weakest since June.
Also on Monday, U.K.-based Markit Economics reported that its U.S. manufacturing PMI came in at a three-month low of 53.7 for January, missing expectations for a 53.8 reading.
Ongoing concerns that emerging markets are cooling as well added to the selloff.
Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included Pfizer, up 0.63%, Chevron, down 0.44%, and Visa, down 0.93%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average's worst performers included AT&T, down 4.11%, Walt Disney, down 3.60%, and Microsoft, down 3.57.%.
European indices, meanwhile, finished lower.
After the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 1.63%, France's CAC 40 fell 1.39%, while Germany's DAX 30 fell 1.29%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 finished down 0.69%.