US stocks start September on a weak note

'US equities moved lower after re-opening session on Tuesday following a holiday shortened week on account of Labor day. The Nasdaq plunged 577.33 points or 3.3 percent to 17,136.30, the S&P 500 dove 119.47 points or 2.1 percent to 5,528.93 and the Dow tumbled 626.15 points or 1.5 percent to 40,936.93. With the steep drop, the Dow pulled back well off the record closing high set in the previous session.

Semiconductor stocks pulled back sharply after turning in a strong performance last Friday, resulting in a 7.8 percent nosedive by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. AI market leader Nvidia (NVDA) plummeted by 9.5 percent. Oil service stocks also saw significant weakness amid a steep drop by the price of crude oil.

The sell-off on Wall Street came after the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing a continued contraction by U.S. manufacturing activity in the month of August. The ISM said its manufacturing PMI inched up to 47.2 in August from 46.8 in July, but a reading below 50 still indicates contraction. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, slid 6.7 basis points to 3.844 percent. Monthly jobs data will be in focus later this week, with economists currently expecting employment to climb by 165,000 jobs in August after rising by 114,000 jobs in July.

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