US stock indices slide

The stock market couldn't shake off a case of the jitters from last week and closed sharply lower again on Monday.

Many investors remain concerned that economic growth in Europe and Asia could be slowing. A meeting of Eurozone finance ministers in Luxembourg didn't appear to ease those concerns.

A measure of volatility soared, indicating investors are getting increasingly nervous.

A late slide in the last half-hour of trading came after an otherwise calm day in the markets. Index futures had pointed to a higher open in premarket trading early Monday, then the market opened lower and wavered for much of the day between small gains and losses.

The late wave of selling was likely triggered by automated trading programs that started selling stocks when it became clear that the S&P 500 would close below an important technical level, said Randy Frederick, managing director of trading and derivatives at Schwab Center for Financial Research.

In this case, the S&P 500 closed below 1,905, the 200-day moving average price for the index. The index had traded above the average since November, 2012, gaining 36 percent.

All told, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 223.03, or 1.4 percent, to 16,321.07. The Standard & Poor's 500 index shed 31.39, or 1.7 percent, to 1,874.74.

The Nasdaq slid 62.58 points, or 1.5 percent, to 4,213.66.