Wall Street tumbles sharply, Dow Jones slips below 200-DMA on tech sector, trade war worries

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 458.92 points, or 1.9 percent, to end at 23,644.19 after dipping below its 200-day moving average. The S&P 500 fell 58.99 points, or 2.23 percent, to 2,581.88 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 193.33 points, or 2.74 percent, to 6,870.12.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq was dragged lower by Microsoft , Intel , Apple Inc , Facebook and Alphabet. Image source: Reuters

Wall Street shares plunged on Monday as investors fled technology stocks amid resurgent trade war worries, with key indexes trading below their 200-day moving averages and the S&P 500 closing below that pivotal technical level for the first time since Britain`s vote to leave the European Union in June 2016.

The first trading day of the second quarter began with a broad selloff concentrated in the technology and consumer discretionary sectors, as losses by Amazon.com , Tesla and Microsoft , among others, took center stage from retaliatory trade measures China unveiled on Sunday.

With the S&P 500 in a 10 percent correction from its record high in late January, investors were increasingly concerned a nine-year bull market might be in danger of ending.

"It’s more complicated than just a tech selloff. What`s hurting everything is that the S&P went through its 200-day moving average," said Brian Battle, director of trading at Performance Trust Capital Partners in Chicago. "That attracts momentum sellers and they don`t care what the fundamentals are."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 458.92 points, or 1.9 percent, to end at 23,644.19 after dipping below its 200-day moving average. The S&P 500 fell 58.99 points, or 2.23 percent, to 2,581.88 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 193.33 points, or 2.74 percent, to 6,870.12.

Amazon.com was the biggest drag on the S&P 500, down 5.2 percent, as President Donald Trump continued his twitter attacks on the online retailer.

All 11 major sectors of the S&P 500 closed lower, with the biggest losses seen by the consumer discretionary and technology indexes, which were down 2.8 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq was dragged lower by Microsoft , Intel , Apple Inc , Facebook and Alphabet .

Shares of Tesla Inc ended the day down 5.1 percent after the company was reported to be making 2,000 Model 3s per week, missing its 2,500 target.

The electric automaker`s losses extend last week`s near 14-percent decline as investigations of a fatal California crash and a Moody's credit downgrade weighed on the stock.

Health insurer Humana Inc`s shares closed up 4.4 percent on news it was in talks with Walmart to expand their partnership or possibly be acquired by the retailer. Walmart stock fell 3.8 percent.