S&P 500 Index opens sharply lower, all majors sectors trade in red

• Wall Street's main indexes are suffering heavy losses on Tuesday.
• Risk-sensitive technology stocks underperform for the second straight day.

After falling on Monday, major equity indexes continue to push lower as safe-haven flows remain in control of financial markets. As of writing, the S&P 500 was losing 0.95% at 4,148, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1% at 34,405 and the Nasdaq Composite was falling 0.9% at 13,238.

Reflecting the risk-averse market environment, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), Wall Street's fear gauge, is up nearly 12% on the day at 22.08.

All 11 major sectors of the S&P 500 trade in the negative territory after the opening bell. The risk-sensitive Technology Index is down 1.5%. On the other hand, the Financials Index is only losing 0.15% supported by a more-than-1% increase in the benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond yield.

S&P 500 (SPX) Nasdaq (QQQ) Day Ahead: Can the Fed stop the red.

S&P 500 chart (daily)