A 400-point surge for the Dow vanished at the end of the trading session late Tuesday, the latest sign of how jittery markets have become about the health of the global economy.
Just minutes before the close the Dow was trading down almost 100 points.
The afternoon slump represents the latest blow for the stock markets, just a day after the Dow experienced a 1,089-point plunge.
The Dow is now on track for its sixth consecutive decline as fears mount that China’s slowing economy will infect the rest of the world.
The latest slump is particularly disappointing because the Dow had been up as much 441 points at one point on Tuesday morning. Buyers finally appeared to be returning to the market, but that rally eventually lost momentum and turned into a selloff.
“This is a repair process …Things take time to clean up. A lot of damage was done,” said Michael Block, chief strategist at Rhino Trading Partners.