S&P 500 Index opens deep in red, all major sectors push lower

• Wall Street's main indexes started the new week in the negative territory.
• All major sectors of S&P 500 suffer losses after the opening bell.
• CBOE Volatility Index is up nearly 20% on Monday.

After posting losses last week, major equity indexes in the US opened sharply lower on Monday amid the souring market mood. Mirroring the risk-averse market environment, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), Wall Street's fear gauge, is rising nearly 20%.

As of writing, the S&P 500 was losing 1.4% on the day at 4,267, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.8% at 34,057 and the Nasdaq Composite was falling 1.05% at 14,529.

All 11 major sectors of the S&P 500 trade in the negative territory after the opening bell. Pressured by a more-than-3% decline in crude oil prices, the Energy Index is losing 3.3%. In the meantime, the defensive Utilities Index is down only 0.05%.

S&P 500 chart (daily)