Monday’s volatility looked set to continue Tuesday morning, as Dow Futures pointed to a loss of more than 600 points at the market open.
As of 8:56 a.m. ET, Dow Futures were indicating an opening loss of 635 points, with the S&P 500 futures indicating a 58 point loss. The Cboe Volatility index, which is widely considered the best fear gauge on Wall Street, hit its highest levels since August 2015.
The expected opening plunge follows two days of steep losses. On Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 1,175.21 points to 24,345.75. Friday saw losses of 666 points after reports of rising interest rates.
The futures dip follows a rough night for international markets. Japan’s Nikken was off 4.73%, while China’s Hang Seng Index fell more than 5%.
The slide is widely seen as the result of traders worrying about future interest rate rises. U.S. jobs data sparked apprehension at the end of last week, with higher-than-expected wage increases triggering inflationary concerns.
All this comes after a year in which global stock markets gained 22%.