Stocks have moved sharply lower in early trading on Monday, extending the sell-off seen last Friday. The major averages have fallen firmly into negative territory, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq falling to its lowest levels in well over a year.
In recent trading, the major averages have climbed off their lows for the young session, but they continue to post steep losses. The Dow is down 286.26 points or 1.8 percent at 15,918.71, the Nasdaq is down 89.53 points or 2.1 percent at 4,273.61 and the S&P 500 is down 32.12 points or 1.7 percent at 1,847.93.
The early weakness on Wall Street comes amid a notable decrease by the price of crude oil, with crude for March delivery sliding $0.94 to $29.95 a barrel.
Crude oil prices are extending the drop seen last week, when the commodity tumbled $2.73 or 8.1 percent to $30.89 a barrel amid concerns about global oversupply.
The decrease by the price of crude oil also reflects concerns about the outlook for the global economy, which has led to substantial weakness among European stocks.
Nonetheless, trading activity on the day has been somewhat subdued, with some traders staying on the sidelines amid a lack of major U.S. economic data.
The economic calendar remains relatively quiet throughout much of the week, although reports on retail sales, import and export prices, and consumer sentiment are all due to be released on Friday.
Traders are also likely to keep an eye on remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, who is scheduled to deliver her semi-annual testimony to Congress on Wednesday and Thursday.
On the earnings front, Coca-Cola (KO), Disney (DIS), Time Warner (TWX), Cisco (CSCO), Twitter (TWTR), Kellogg (K), and PepsiCo (PEP) are among the companies due to report their quarterly results this week.
Energy stocks are turning in some of the market's worst performances in early trading, moving lower along with the price of crude oil.
The NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index has plummeted by 4.8 percent, while the NYSE Arca Oil & Gas Index is down by 2.9 percent and the Philadelphia Oil Service Index is down by 2.2 percent.
Internet, computer hardware, telecom, and software stocks are also seeing substantial weakness amid another broad-based sell-off on Wall Street.
Gold stocks are among the few groups bucking the downtrend, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index surging up by 3.4 percent amid a jump by the price of the precious metal.
In overseas trading, most stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region were closed on Monday due to the Lunar New Year holiday. However, Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged up by 1.1 percent, while Australia's All Ordinaries Index edged down y 0.1 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have shown substantial moves to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has plunged by 2.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are both down by 3.2 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved notably higher amid the continued weakness on Wall Street. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 7.6 basis points at 1.772 percent.
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