What started out as a promising session on Wall Street ended with a third-straight day of losses for all three major indexes. The Dow shed 308 points, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 settled in the red as well, as the latter breached the 4,000 level. Interest rate hike fears returned full force after New York Fed President John Williams today reinforced the need for restrictive policy to slow demand, echoing the hawkish sentiment officials voiced in Europe. 

In other news, home prices cooled off in June, but remain 18% higher year-over-year, per S&P Case-Shiller data. Investors were also unpacking jobs openings data for July, which revealed available job positions totaled a much higher-than-expected 11.24 million.

The Dow Jones Average (DJI - 31,790.87) dropped 308.1 points or 1% for the day. American Express (AXP) led the gainers, adding a slim 0.08%. Dow (DOW) paced the laggards with a 2.8% drop.

The S&P 500 Index (SPX -3,986.16) shed 44.5 points or 1.1% for the day. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC - 11,883.14) lost 134.5 points or 1.1% for the session.

Lastly, the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX - 26.21) was flat.

ENERGY DEMAND FEARS SLAM OIL PRICES

Oil prices tumbled on Tuesday, as festering economic fears sparked energy demand concerns, while traders also weighed the prospect of production output cuts. October-dated crude shed $5.37, or 5.5%, to close at $91.64 per barrel.

Gold prices also moved sharply lower to register their worst close since late July, and a third-straight day in the red. December-dated gold dropped $13.40, or 0.8% to close at $1,736.30 an ounce.

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