August was the Worst Month for US Markets in 3 Years

August was a brutal month for investors.

Fears about a slowdown in China’s economy and concerns about when the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates pushed stocks sharply lower this month. While the market recovered much of the ground it lost, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index still finished August down 6.3 percent, its worst showing since May 2012.

The selling started midway through the month after China shocked investors by devaluating its currency. The move, an effort to boost China’s economy, seemed to have the opposite effect. Global investors interpreted the decision as a sign that China’s economy, the second-largest in the world, was growing more slowly than anticipated. That combined with another plunge in Chinese stocks sent off red flags in Asia, Europe and the Americas.

The selling was fierce and deep. Trading volume, which typically slows in summer, spiked. The S&P 500 index at one point fell into what’s known as a “correction,” which is when an index falls 10 percent or more from a recent high.

via Mainichi

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza