Stocks managed to pare most of their losses on Monday, but still settled modestly below breakeven. Interest rate hike fears haunted Wall Street for most of the day, with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's hawkish speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium still ringing in investors' ears.

After being down over 300 points at its session lows, and briefly reaching positive territory, the Dow ultimately finished 184 points lower. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also finished in the red, with the tech sector bearing the brunt of those losses. Amid today's whipsaw price action, the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) settled at its highest level since July 14.  

The Dow Jones Average (DJI - 32,098.99) dropped 184.4 points or 0.6% for the day Walmart (WMT) led the gainers, adding 1%. Salesforce (CRM) paced the laggards with a 3% drop.

The S&P 500 Index (SPX -4,030.61) shed 27.1 points or 0.7% for the day. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC - 12,017.67) lost 124 points or 1% for the session.

Lastly, the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX - 26.21) added 0.7 points or 2.5% for the day.

OIL RALLIES AS TENSIONS BUILD IN LIBYA

Oil prices moved higher on Monday to settle at their highest level in one month. Boosting black gold today was the risk of a civil war breaking out in Libya, as well as expectations that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) will cut production. October-dated crude added $3.95, or 4.2%, to close at $97.01 per barrel.

Meanwhile, gold prices finished modestly lower as Treasury yields rose. A weaker U.S. dollar capped those losses, however, as traders eyed the release of monthly jobs data later this week. December-dated gold shed 10 cents to close at $1,749.70 an ounce.

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