The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 809.28 points, or 2.38 percent, to 33,240.18. The S&P 500 fell 120.92 points, or 2.81 percent, to 4,175.20. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 514.11 points, or 3.95 percent, to 12,490.74.
Ten of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in red, with consumer discretionary and technology down 4.99 percent and 3.71 percent, respectively, leading the laggards. Energy rose 0.05 percent, the lone gaining group.
Shares of Microsoft and Google-parent Alphabet both dropped more than 3 percent ahead of earnings reports.
Shares of other major U.S. tech giants, such as Meta Platforms, Apple, Amazon and Netflix, all closed noticeably lower.
The market sell-off came as concerns about Federal Reserve and other central bank rate hikes have increased.
Last week, a slew of Fed officials reiterated their desire to raise rates expeditiously, cementing market expectations that the Fed will raise rates even more than expected.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell affirmed the U.S. central bank's determination to bring down inflation, indicating a 50-basis-point hike was "on the table" at the May policy meeting.
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said he wouldn't "rule out" a 0.75 percent increase in the Fed funds rate at some point.
"Market expectations for the year-end level of the Fed funds rate rose from 2.5 percent to 2.8 percent last week, raising concerns about the impact on economic growth," analysts at UBS Global Wealth Management said in a note.
Wall Street has suffered noticeable losses in April. As of Tuesday, the Dow logged a 4.1 percent slide for the month-to-date returns, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq tumbled 7.8 percent and 12.2 percent, respectively.
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