U.S. stocks wrapped up the week on a gloomy note, as Wall Street was battered by growing concerns over the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy and U.S.-China trade prospects, as well as digested a slew of mixed data that dampened growth potential.
In the week ending Aug. 2, the Dow sharply fell 2.63 percent. The S&P 500 plunged 3.14 percent, marking its worst level since December 2018. The Nasdaq lost 3.98 percent.
This week marked negative trading sessions for the market with a tepid start and a worrying ending, with the three major indexes hitting record lows during the week.
On Friday, the three major indexes ended with marked losses, capping off a tumbling week as market jitters persisted over U.S.-China trade tensions and Fed's unclear stance on future path for easing moves.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 98.41 points, or 0.37 percent, to 26,485.01. The S&P 500 fell 21.51 points, or 0.73 percent, to 2,932.05. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 107.05 points, or 1.32 percent, to 8,004.07.
Wall Street has been rocked since Thursday, after U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that Washington would put more tariffs on Chinese imports, triggering broad fears over the global economy.
In the wake of the Tweets, the majority of the 30 blue-chip stocks in the Dow extended losses around market close on Friday, with shares of Cisco Systems down nearly 3.9 percent, among the worst performers.
Shares of widely-acknowledged trade bellwethers Caterpillar and Intel lost 1.77 percent and 1.66 percent respectively.
Following Trump's announcement, the Cboe Volatility index, widely considered the best fear gauge in the stock market, increased 10.86 percent to 17.87 on Thursday.
Throughout the week, market participants pored through the Fed's latest monetary policy and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's remarks on further rate cuts, which surprised investors and caused significant pullbacks in the three major indexes.
Wednesday was a day for Wall Street to mourn, as the three major indexes posted the steepest daily falls of the week, as Powell noted rate cut was not a start of easing moves, after the central bank announced interest rate cut by a quarter point for the first time in more than a decade.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Wednesday with a plunge of 333.75 points, or 1.23 percent. The S&P 500 slumped 32.80 points, or 1.09 percent. The Nasdaq Composite Index also sharply slid 98.19 points, or 1.19 percent.
The federal funds target range now stands at 2-2.25 percent, which became the first reduced range since December 2008, when rates were reduced close to zero during the global financial crisis.
