U.S. stock indexes fell for the second consecutive day at the start of the fourth quarter on Wednesday. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 2 (UPI) -- U.S. stock markets fell for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, continuing a poor start to the fourth quarter.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 494 points, or 1.86 percent, at the end of trading, while the S&P 500 fell 1.79 percent and the Nasdaq Composite slid 1.56 percent.


All 11 S&P sectors were down Wednesday, with technology falling 2 percent and 10 others falling at least 1.2 percent.

The Nasdaq also was dragged down by tech performance as Microsoft shares slipped 1.8 percent and Amazon, Apple and Alphabet all declined by at least 1.3 percent.

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At its lowest point, the Dow was down nearly 600 points, falling below 26,000 for the first time since September. All three indexes experienced their worst single-day drops since Aug. 23.

Wednesday's decline came after a report by the Institute for Supply Management said Tuesday that U.S. manufacturing activity fell to its lowest level in more than a decade, sending the Dow falling more than 300 points, while the S&P 500 dropped 1.2 percent.

President Donald Trump blamed the market decline on impeachment proceedings in a Tweet on Wednesday morning.

RELATED 3 Chicago labor unions tell city 35,000 workers planning strike All of this impeachment nonsense, which is going nowhere, is driving the Stock Market, and your 401K's, down. But that is exactly what the Democrats want to do. They are willing to hurt the Country, with only the 2020 Election in mind!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2019

The impeachment inquiry could play into investors' concerns about ongoing trade negotiations with China, while other international risks such as the status of Britain's plans to exit the European Union also increase investor anxiety.

DataTrek Research co-founder Nicholas Colas said the market will want to see "real progress" from upcoming U.S.-China trade talks, which have had significant sway on the indexes in the past.

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"Markets will be looking for positive commentary from both sides going into this meeting and tangible steps to an agreement immediately after," he said.