India, March 6 -- After recovering from early weakness to end the previous session sharply higher, stocks showed a substantial move back to the downside during trading on Thursday. With the steep drops on the day, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 tumbled to five and four-month closing lows, respectively.

The major averages moved roughly sideways going into the close, lingering near their worst levels of the day. The Nasdaq plummeted 483.48 points or 2.6 percent to 18,069.26, the S&P 500 plunged 104.11 points or 1.8 percent at 5,738.52 and the Dow slumped 427.51 points or 1.0 percent to 42,579.08.

The sell-off on Wall Street came as ongoing concerns about the economic impact of President Donald Trump's new tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China led...