It was the worst performance since May for the S&P and the Nasdaq, while the Dow logged its worst day since July.The market recovered slightly before the closing bell rang, but it was still an awful session: The Dow finished down 1.8%, or 614 points. The S&P 500, the broadest measure of Wall Street, closed down 1.7%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.2%.
Evergrande, which is struggling to manage its $300 billion mountain of debt, was supposed to pay the interest on some of its bank loans Monday, according to Bloomberg. The company will also have to pay interest on two of its bonds worth more than $100 million later this week, according to Refinitiv.Why are global investors so worried about something that's happening in the Far East?
But in spite of the timing, it's far from certain that Evergrande's crisis will become a similarly systemic event, according to Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist for LPL Financial. Meanwhile, it's not just worries about contagion that are pushing the market lower. US stocks struggled for direction last week and market analysts have long said a correction is needed after the long rally that pushed stocks up to record highs.