As investors watched major markets crash, Wall Street saw stocks plunge on Tuesday, particularly among chip-selling technology companies.

The S&P 500 lost more than 2 percent and the NASDAQ Composite lost more than 3 percent, or 577 points, marking a broad sell-off that suggests a lack of confidence in AI and chip manufacturing in September. Overall, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.5 percent, or 626 points, to end the day at 40,936.93.

Tuesday’s decline was the biggest for the three major markets since early August, according to Yahoo Finance.

Nvidia, the chipmaker that has made huge investments over the past decade due to growing interest in AI technologies, saw its share price fall by almost 10 percent. The PHLX chip index also lost 8 percent.

Chipmakers led the decline after a manufacturing index report showed August earnings were below expectations, CNBC reported, stoking fears of an economic slowdown and worries about the strength of the economy, triggering the sell-off.

But it wasn’t just the chip manufacturers that suffered losses; Apple shares also lost three percent, which corresponds to a market value of the company of 95 billion dollars.

According to investors, such poor performance in September is not unusual.

“September/October are notoriously volatile months for markets, especially in presidential election years. This year, investors seem even more concerned given the wide swings in the polls and rapidly changing potential outcomes,” said Carol Schleif, Chief Investment Officer of BMO Family Office, Yahoo Finance.

She said it was not unusual for “trading to begin after Labor Day with a bounce in the opposite direction than was generally the case in the previous summer months.” Schleif attributed the bounce to investors “getting ready for the end-of-year bounce.”

Oil prices also experienced a slump on Tuesday. The international oil price of Brent Crude fell by almost 5 percent to below $74 per barrel by mid-morning. According to MarketWatch, this is the lowest price since December 2023.

The price drop is due to declining production in China, the world’s largest oil importer. China has reported a decline in production for four months.