Sharp losses for US stocks at Wall Street

Fretting about tightening monetary policy added to the downdraft

U.S. stocks closed sharply lower on Wednesday, 09 September 2015 as worries about a potential interest-rate hike, sparked by a report showing a record rise in job openings in July, and a downturn in crude-oil prices overshadowed hopes for new stimulus measures by China and Japan.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 239.11 points, or 1.5%, to 16,253.57. The Nasdaq Composite shed 55.40 points, or 1.2%, to 4,756.53. The S&P 500 dropped 27.37 points, or 1.4%, to close at 1,942.04.

Equity indices hit their highs shortly after the opening bell with the early move fueled by strengthening risk appetite overseas. To that point, Asian markets posted solid gains with China's Shanghai Composite jumping 2.3% amid continued speculation about government involvement in the market while Japan's Nikkei soared 7.7%, registering its largest one-day gain since October 2008, after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to lower the corporate tax rate by at least 3.3%.

The positive vibes carried into the European session, but the demand for equities began receding once the U.S. market opened. Fretting about tightening monetary policy added to the downdraft as some investors read the job openings data as providing more fodder for the Fed to lift rates soon.

Apple, the largest company in the world by market capitalization, unveiled a business-oriented iPad Pro, a new set of iPhones with so-called 3-D touch technology, and a revamped Apple TV. Apple shares, however, fell 1.9% to close at $110.15 as the new products were mostly seen as upgrades to existing devices.

A selloff in crude-oil futuresa drag on energy sharescontributed to the weakness in U.S. stocks, with crude oil futures for October delivery settling below $45 a barrel.

The Federal Open Market Committee is set to hold its two-day policy meeting next week starting 16 September, with the prospect of the first rate increase in nearly a decade looming.

Bullion prices ended lower at Comex on Wednesday, 09 Seotember 2015 at Comex. Gold futures logged their lowest settlement in a month on Wednesday, as a rise in Asian and European equities and strength in the U.S. dollar lured investors away from the precious metal. Asian and European stocks rallied, while U.S. stocks were trading lower by the Comex settlement in the wake of their second-best rally of the year.

Gold for December delivery gave up $19, or 1.7%, to settle at $1,102 an ounce on Comex. Gold prices have fallen 10 out of the last 12 sessions. That doesn't include Monday, which didn't see a Comex settlement price because of the Labor Day holiday. December silver settled with a loss of 17.9 cents, or 1.2%, at $14.576 an ounce.

Today's participation was slightly stronger than yesterday as more than 905 million shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.

Economic data was limited to the MBA Mortgage Index and July Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. The weekly MBA Mortgage Index fell 6.2% to follow last week's 11.3% spike. The July Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed an increase in openings to 5.753 million from 5.323 million.

Tomorrow, weekly Initial Claims (consensus 275K) and August Import/Export Prices will be reported at 8:30 ET while the Wholesale Inventories report for July (expected 0.3%) will cross the wires at 10:00 ET.

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