NEW YORK, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks traded on a downbeat note on Wednesday as investors grew concerned over Turkey's financial crisis while digesting a slew of economic data.
At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 261.77 points, or 1.03 percent, to 25,038.15. The S&P 500 fell 31.47 points, or 1.11 percent, to 2,808.49. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 128.01 points, or 1.63 percent, to 7,742.88.
The Dow's losses were led by Caterpillar and Chevron as shares of both companies slid more than 3 percent around midday.
Seven of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors declined, with the energy leading the laggards. The Nasdaq traded sharply lower with Netflix among the worst performers. Shares of the company decreased more than 3.7 percent in midday trading.
Fears of Turkey's financial crisis and the possible regional and global contagion were reignited after the news of Turkey's retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports, weighing on the market, experts noted.
On economic data, U.S. retail sales stood at 507.5 billion U.S. dollars in July, an increase of 0.5 percent from the previous month, according to the Department of Commerce on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, U.S. business inventories rose 0.1 percent in June and sales increased 0.3 percent. However, the ratio of inventories to sales dropped to 1.33 from 1.34, the department reported. Enditem
