Stock markets fell sharply Friday, as concerns surrounding the global economy led to some of the worst trading days of the year.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 530 points on Friday, one day after another brutal sell-off. The blue-chip stock index is down nearly 900 points in the last two days, shedding over 5 percent of its value.
{mosads}The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were both down more than 2 percent in Friday alone. All told, the stock market faced its steepest decline of the year.
The sell-off comes after weeks of tumultuous activity abroad, including the continued struggles of Greece to remain within the eurozone and the high drama in the Chinese stock market.
Oil briefly fell below $40 a barrel on Friday, the first time that price has fallen to that level in more than five years.
Market turmoil also came as analysts were hotly debating what the Federal Reserve’s next move will be when officials convene in September. Many analysts had thought the Fed was prepared to raise rates for the first time since the financial crisis at that month’s meeting, but the ongoing market turmoil, along with concerns that China’s economy may be slowing down, have led to some uncertainty about the central bank’s next move.
This story was updated at 6:20 p.m.