Wall Street kicked off September on a sharply negative note as China growth worries slammed global markets yet again.

As of 9:30 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 324 points, or 1.92% to 16196. The S&P 500 sank 36 points, or 1.85% to 1935, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 94 points, or 1.96% to 4683.

All ten S&P 500 sectors were in negative territory, with technology falling the most, 2.20% in recent action.

Today’s Markets

It’s déjà vu all over again for global financial markets as manufacturing data rule the day.

Overnight, data from China showed the nation’s manufacturing sector slipped to a three-year low and back into contraction territory for the first time in six months, though mostly in-line with expectations, while the services sector also showed weakness.  

The importance of this latest round of data, Joshua Mahony, IG market analyst said in a note, is that it revealed the nation’s slowdown is hitting larger, state-backed companies.

“Chinese markets have started the week just as the past three weeks have begun, with widespread selling and the expectation that the worst may not be over. There are precious few signs that China is beginning to recover, and while PBoC action can provide a temporary reprieve, we are yet to see any evidence that is doing any good to the economy,” he said.

The data rattled Asia markets, where stocks finished the session deeply in negative territory.

China’s Shanghai Composite Index dropped 1.23%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 2.24%, while Japan’s Nikkei plunged 3.84%.

The weakness continued in Europe where equity markets there opened sharply lower after data showed manufacturing expansion in the UK eased in August.  The Euro Stoxx 50, which tracks large-cap companies in the eurozone, slid 3.05%. The German Dax declined 3.01%, the French CAC 50 dropped 2.97%, while the UK’s FTSE 100, reopened after a holiday weekend, slid 3.11%.

U.S. investors were set for a look at their own domestic manufacturing due out from the Institute for Supply Management at 10:00 a.m. Economists expect the factory activity gauge to have slipped to 52.6 in August from 52.7 in July – readings above 50 point to expansion.

Meanwhile, as the nation officially enters a month in which many on Wall Street had anticipated the first interest-rate hike from the Federal Reserve, attention will be focused on any and all central bank speakers who might give insight into when the Fed is likely to move – whether it’s by the end of the year, or well into 2016.

Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren is the latest member to step up to the podium. He’ll offer his outlook for the U.S. economy ahead of the FOMC’s September 16-17 meeting as he speaks from the Forecasters Club of NY at 1:10 p.m.

Michael Block, chief strategist at Rhino Trading Partners, said the movement in global markets was a little to do with weak manufacturing data across the world, but it’s more to do with fear and pain from a rough August for the markets.

“Fear that the tumult is not over. Fear that we have no idea what the FOMC is going to do on September 17 and how the markets will take that,” he said.  “This market continues to feel thin, whippy, and manipulated, so we’re giving it a lot of room. Welcome to September.”

After a blockbuster rally on Monday, oil prices were socked by global growth worries on Tuesday. U.S. crude dropped 3.84% to $47.32 a barrel. Brent, the international benchmark, declined 3.73% to $52.17 a barrel.

Gold, largely seen as a safe-haven asset, was one of the only glimmers of green on a sharply down day. It traded up 1.04% to $1,144 a troy ounce. Silver also traded up 0.51% to $14.65 an ounce, while copper edged 1.11% lower to $2.31 a pound.

The dollar was mixed against a handful of world currencies, while the euro gained 0.49% against the greenback. Meanwhile, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond was down 0.028 percentage point to 2.170%.