Stock Market Pares Losses, but Dow, S&P 500 Fall Nearly 2%

Worries about spreading contagion from troubles in China’s property market sent U.S. stocks toward their steepest declines in months on Monday.

Losses for the major U.S. indexes accelerated midday, then reversed in the final hour of trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.8%, around 614 points, dragged down by shares of Caterpillar and financial heavyweights like Goldman Sachs . The S&P 500 dropped 1.7%. The technology-focused Nasdaq Composite Index fell 2.2%, after being down more than 3% earlier in the afternoon.