Updated at 4:35 p.m. ET
After the huge sell-off Wednesday, U.S. stocks fell sharply again Thursday. At one point, the Dow was down nearly 700 points. By late afternoon, it had regained some ground but closed down 546 points or a little more than 2 percent.
Over the past two days, the Dow has lost 1,378 points. The S&P 500 was down 2 percent for the day. The Nasdaq lost 1.25 percent.
Investors remain worried that trade tensions between the U.S. and China as well as rising interest rates will slow economic growth. The Federal Reserve has been gradually increasing interest rates to less stimulative levels in response to strong growth in the U.S. economy and historically low unemployment levels. Investors worry the Fed might now raise rates faster to head off increases in inflation that could come from higher wages.
But a government inflation report released Thursday showed consumer prices rose a bit less than expected