Dow sheds more than 200 points as fears of further Fed rate hikes roil stocks: Live updates

Stocks sold off Wednesday, continuing the sluggish start to September, as concerns mounted that the Federal Reserve may not be done hiking interest rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 270 points, or 0.8%. The S&P 500 dropped 1%, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 1.3%.

Treasury yields jumped, weighing on risk assets again. The yield on the 2-year Treasury note was last up more than 5 basis points to trade above the 5% level.

Pressured by rates, technology stocks underperformed. The biggest laggards included Nvidia and Tesla, falling more than 3% each. Apple dropped roughly 3%, weighing on the Dow. Amgen and Boeing contributed to the losses, falling more than 1% each.

Wednesday’s rise in Treasury yields coincided with stronger-than-expected economic data that fueled some concern over the likelihood of further hikes. Recent readings on both the services and manufacturing sectors of the U.S. economy show that prices are moving in the wrong direction.

“The ISM reinforced all the concerns that have been bedeviling stocks for weeks – higher yields undercut stock valuations, robust growth [and] sticky inflation keep pressure on the Fed, healthy growth gives a further bid to oil,” said Vital Knowledge’s Adam Crisafulli in a Wednesday note.

The prices component of the ISM services index rose 2.1 percentage points to 58.9% in August, representing the share of companies reporting increases as well a four-month high.

That follows the prices component of the ISM manufacturing index jumping 5.8 points to 48.4%. While readings below 50% represent contraction in the ISM survey, the big one-month jump is a reversal from the recent trend. The prices paid component rose slightly more than expected, further fueling rate hike fears.

Following the services report, the probability that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in November increased, last at 49% according to the CME Group. Traders are pricing in a 91% chance that the central bank holds rates steady at its meeting later this month.

“Even though we keep hearing that we’ll probably be in just a soft patch and not a recession, the more negative news that we get about the economy, the more I think people worry that we could actually fall into a recession,” said CFRA Research’s chief investment strategist Sam Stovall.

Meanwhile, the latest Beige Book from the Federal Reserve indicated modest growth from July to August and noted a slowing in overall price growth.

Earlier in the day, Boston Fed President Susan Collins said the central bank can “proceed cautiously” on more rate hikes, but indicated that “further tightening would be warranted” depending on the data.

Oil prices rose again Wednesday after hitting their highest level since November as Saudi Arabia and Russia extended their voluntary supply cuts.

— CNBC’s Jeff Cox contributed reporting