U.S. stocks fell sharply Monday, extending a steep sell-off from the previous session, as investors rushed for the exits in the wake of rising interest rates. For the S&P 500, it was the worst day in six years.

The Dow Jones industrial average shed 1,175.21 points to 24,345.75 and briefly declined more than 1,500 points. The 30-stock index also briefly traded flat earlier in the session, before the selling returned. Overall, the Dow traveled more than 5,100 points during the session.

The Dow also broke below 25,000 and erased its 2018 gains. It also dipped into correction territory.

"Breaking the early lows of the day means the correction could go on for longer," said Art Cashin, UBS director of floor operations at the New York Stock Exchange.

The pulled back 4.1 percent — its biggest one day decline since August 2011— to close at 2,648.94. The broad index had traded positive earlier on Monday as the tech sector briefly rose. The S&P 500 also closed down more than 7 percent from an all-time high set last month and broke below its 50-day moving average, a key technical level. It also gave back all of its gains for 2018.

"As soon as we broke the 50-day moving average ... we saw volatility spike," said Jeff Kilburg, CEO of KKM Financial. "It's just been downhill from there."

The Nasdaq composite declined 3.8 percent to 6,967.53 after rising as much as 0.5 percent. Earlier gains in Apple and Amazon helped the tech-heavy index trade off its lows.

"We're not used to getting washouts like this anymore," said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial. "The buy-the-dip mentality that has taken over hasn't allowed for that."

"This sell-off, in the bigger scheme of things, is not that big. But it is very important in psychological terms," Krosby said.