At the close of the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones fell 3.57% to a 52-week low, the S&P 500 lost 4.04% and the NASDAQ Composite fell 4.73%.

The leading performer among the components of the Dow Jones index today was Verizon Communications Inc, which shed 0.05 points (0.10%) to close at 48.89. Amgen Inc lost 0.57% or 1.39 points to close at 243.96. Merck & Company Inc shed 0.90 points or 0.97% to close at 92.10.

The biggest losers were Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc, which shed 3.77 points or 8.39% to end the session at 41.17. Coca-Cola Co was up 6.96% or 4.58 points to close at 61.20 while Walmart Inc was down 6.79% or 8.92 points to close at 122. .43.

Leading gainers among the S&P 500 index components in today's trading were TJX Companies Inc, which rose 7.12% to 60.19, Assurant Inc, which gained 1.31% to close at 186.85, and shares of NRG Energy Inc, which rose 1.24% to end the session at 45.76.

The drop leaders were shares of Target Corporation, which lost 24.93% to close at 161.61. Shares of Dollar Tree Inc shed 14.42% to end the session at 133.80. Quotes of Old Dominion Freight Line Inc decreased in price by 12.97% to 236.47.

The leading gainers among the components of the NASDAQ Composite in today's trading were Troika Media Group Inc, which rose 48.21% to 0.58, Magenta Therapeutics Inc, which gained 32.20% to close at 1.56. as well as Ricebran Tech, which rose 22.08% to end the session at 0.72.

The biggest losers were Endo International PLC, which shed 46.54% to close at 0.62. Shares of Baudax Bio Inc shed 31.53% to end the session at 0.81. Quotes INVO Bioscience Inc fell in price by 29.45% to 1.09.

On the New York Stock Exchange, the number of securities that fell in price (2,733) exceeded the number of those that closed in positive territory (461), while quotes of 91 shares remained virtually unchanged. On the NASDAQ stock exchange, 3,017 stocks fell, 759 rose, and 235 remained at the previous close.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which is based on S&P 500 options trading, rose 18.62% to 30.96.

Gold futures for June delivery lost 0.27%, or 4.99, to hit $1.00 a troy ounce. In other commodities, WTI July futures fell 2.75%, or 3.02, to $106.61 a barrel. Brent futures for July delivery fell 2.60%, or 2.91, to $109.02 a barrel.

Meanwhile, in the Forex market, EUR/USD fell 0.81% to hit 1.05, while USD/JPY shed 0.92% to hit 128.21.

Futures on the USD index rose 0.53% to 103.96.