A fresh wave of selling hit Wall Street on Monday, the latest blow to Americans' retirement savings as stocks and cryptocurrencies continue their steep declines in November.
The Dow lost 1.2 percent, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq lost just under one percent.
Bitcoin fell nearly three percent below $92,000, continuing a painful 25 percent decline since hitting records in early October.
The sell-off caused the CNN Fear and Greed Index to plummet. The gauge, which tracks seven indicators including market momentum and stock price strength, fell to 14 out of 100 by Monday evening.
This is the weakest figure since April, when President Donald Trump imposed higher than expected tariffs.
Then, the index bottomed at 3 earlier the figure rose to 78 in July as markets set a series of new records.
Technology stocks were among the hardest hit on Monday as traders nervously braced for Nvidia's earnings on Wednesday.
Wall Street is hoping for another blockbuster quarter from a company with just $5 trillion in revenue, but anything short of perfection risks making the gloom worse.
Investors saw stocks fall again on Monday, extending last week's tough trading period.
“Nvidia is leading the AI revolution, and AI has been the leading catalyst for this bull market,” Bret Canwell, US investment analyst at eToro, told the Daily Mail.
“That's why there's so much focus on her earnings this week.”
Investors have been pouring money into the chipmaker for almost two years now, and for many it's a sign of AI performance.
“On the one hand, it will be important for Nvidia to confirm that demand is still there and that they are not seeing a slowdown,” said Ross Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird. CNBC.
“But unless they take it one step further, I think it will only leave the second question more open, which is: 'We know there is demand for computing, so what is the return on investment for the firms that are buying all these chips?'
Later this week there will be more information on the state of the US economy.
Walmart reports earnings before the market opens on Thursday, and the results could show just how stressed out American shoppers really are.
Thursday also marks the release of September's nonfarm payrolls report, the first major economic release since the government shutdown froze key data.
All three major indexes fell on Monday
Some of AI's biggest proponents believe the technology will save billions of dollars.
For example, Morgan Stanley estimates that the adoption of AI could generate net benefits of almost $1 trillion per year for S&P 500 companies.
But not everyone is convinced of this. Some of the market's biggest skeptics are now warning that the artificial intelligence boom may be fading.
Among them is Michael BerryBig Short investor who famously predicted the 2008 financial crash.
In early November, documents showed that he had committed a huge bet that Nvidia's share price will fall.
Then, last Tuesday, Masayoshi Son, one of the most popular tech investorshe showed quietly sold all his Nvidia shares and most of his stake in T-Mobile last month.
Both moves were seen as a warning sign that the artificial intelligence boom – the same one that has driven shares of companies such as Nvidia, Microsoft and Palantir to record highs – may finally be faltering.
Last Thursday, the Volatility Index, also known as the Wall Street Index, fear rate jumped by almost 20 percent.
“As uncertainty increases, so does volatility – and that's exactly what we've seen so far in November,” Kenwell added.
“But not all hope is lost. While the S&P 500 is letting off some steam, investors should remember that the index is up significantly from its April low and has enjoyed a six-month rally.”
