"Now, it's time for the bears to take their revenge".

Unemployment is at a 17-year low. "We're monitoring the stock markets, they are functioning very well and we continue to believe in the long-term impact of the stock markets", Mnuchin said. Industrial companies were also falling.

Alphabet's disappointing earnings report on Friday seemed to be a harbinger of this week's slump. When bond yields rise, those stocks become less appealing to investors seeking income. The Nasdaq composite lost 14 points, or 0.2 percent, to 7,225.

Happily, the markets went on to surge by 350 points, helping it rise 1.4 percent over its opening price.

On the Toronto Stock Exchange, the S&P/TSX composite index was down 271.22 points to 15,334.81 in a broad-based decline that saw all sectors finish in the red.

Technology index Nasdaq dropped with 3.78% to 6,967.53 points.

Activity continued to bounce within 2% in the negative and positive during the first half hour of trading.

Before Monday, the S&P 500 index had gone a record period of time - roughly 400 trading days - without a drop of even 5 percent.

In response to that, investors moved to sell out of stocks and put money into assets like bonds which benefit from higher interest rates. This would be much more severe than what happened Monday.

Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management, said the plunge wasn't caused by inflation fears alone.

It's been a rough few days for the stock market. Full-time workers will be paid a one-time, $1,000 bonus - and part-time employees will boost their bank accounts with an $500 each. This helps these hedge funds hedge against risk or quickly capitalize on changing market conditions.

The large share of foreign investors trading in Japan and some other regional markets raised the likelihood that losses seen in the U.S. may spill over into other region. On Tuesday it rallied another $5.22, or 14.7 percent, to $40.84.

Japan's Nikkei dived 4.7 percent, its worst fall since November 2016, to four-month lows. On Monday, it gave up $1.30 to $64.15 per barrel. Natural gas added 1 cent to $2.76 per 1,000 cubic feet.

But Roti said he won't do that.

Losses for MSCI's widely tracked 47-country world index broke $4 trillion, with shares in emerging markets down sharply.

HK Hang Seng 30899.30, -4.17%.

Gold prices fell by 0.1 percent to $ 336.50 per troy ounce.

In currency trading, the dollar fell to 109.17 yen from 109.54 yen late Tuesday.

The slide Monday brought the Dow back below 24,000 points.

The most devastating Wall Street crash occurred over several days in 1929 and preceded the start of the Great Depression.