NEW YORK (AP) — Another sell-off in the Chinese stock market spread across global markets on Thursday. The declines pushed the Standard & Poor's 500 index into the red for 2015 in early-afternoon trading.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average fell 228 points, or 1.3 percent, to 17,117 as of 12:15 p.m. Eastern time. The S&P 500 index lost 25 points, or 1.2 percent, to 2,054 and the Nasdaq composite fell 89 points, or 1.8 percent, to 4,929.
The S&P 500 is now down 0.3 percent for 2015. The Dow is off 4 percent while the Nasdaq, fueled partly by strong gains in Google and other tech company stocks, is up 4 percent.
CHINA CONCERNS: Worries over China, the world's second-largest economy, were again the catalyst for Thursday's losses. The Shanghai Composite Index dropped 3.4 percent on heavy selling of energy and property companies. Chinese shares have had a wild ride this week and that has raised uncertainty about Beijing's ability to stabilize the market.
FEDERAL RESERVE: Minutes released Wednesday from the Federal Reserve's July meeting failed to give investors much direction on whether the U.S. central bank would increase interest rates in September. The Fed hasn't raised rates in nearly a decade.
NOT SO MAGIC KINGDOM: Walt Disney fell $5.35, or 5 percent, to $101.10 after analysts downgraded their outlook on the company. Analysts are concerned that television watchers are choosing to move away from cable, which could hurt lucrative Disney properties such as ESPN.
DRUG DEALMAKING: Valeant Pharmaceuticals fell $7.86, or 3 percent, to $237.19 after the company announced it would spend $1 billion on Sprout Pharmaceuticals, the owner of the first female sexual performance drug approved by regulators. The drug Addyi was approved Wednesday by U.S. regulators.
ENERGY: Oil prices rose 13 cents to $41.39 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, edged down 22 cents to $46.94 a barrel. Oil is trading at near six-year lows, which in turn has hammered energy and oil stocks like Chevron, Exxon Mobil and Transocean.
CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to $1.12 against the euro.