US markets end sharply lower on Wednesday

The US markets ended sharply lower on Wednesday, with Dow Jones Industrial falling more than 800 points in one of the worst sell-offs since February, as fresh concern about the impact of the US-China trade war roiled technology and industrial shares. Besides, lingering concerns about the outlook for interest rates following a recent increase in treasury yields too weighted on market sentiments. Treasury yields moved higher on the day following the release of a Labor Department report showing a rebound in producer prices in the month of September.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand increased by 0.2 percent in September after edging down by 0.1 percent in August. Street had expected prices to rise by 0.2 percent. Excluding decreases in prices for food and energy, core producer prices still rose by 0.2 percent in September after slipping by 0.1 percent in August. The uptick in core prices also matched street estimates. The report also said the annual rate of producer price growth slowed to 2.6 percent in September from 2.8 percent in August, although the annual rate of core producer price growth accelerated to 2.5 percent from 2.3 percent.

Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 831.83 points or 3.15 percent to 25,598.74, Nasdaq slipped 315.97 points or 4.08 percent to 7,422.05 and S&P 500 was down by 94.66 points or 3.29 percent to 2,785.68.