The Dow Jones industrial average fell 138 points, or 0.8 percent, to 17,804 as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time Monday.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index gave up 16 points, or 0.8 percent, to 2,085.
The Nasdaq composite fell 47 points, or 0.9 percent, to 5,033.
The declines were steeper in Europe. Benchmark indexes were down 2 percent in Germany and 3 percent in France.
Nine of the 10 industry sectors in the S&P 500 index fell. The only one that rose was utilities, a traditional safe-haven play.