The Dow Jones industrial average was dwon 132.62 points at 17,368.72, the Nasdaq index dropped 28.98 points to 5,030.37, and the S&P 500 declined 13.48 points to 2,083.44.

The S&P/TSX composite index was down 64.10 points at 14,213.78 at mid-afternoon as the Toronto market has now declined in four of its last five sessions.

“There’s quite a bit of bad news priced into the sector and there could still be some short-term pain, but it’s definitely starting to look more attractive”, he said.

“The end of the summer driving season and the start of refinery maintenance season will weigh on near-term demand and pressure prices”, said Societe Generale oil analyst Michael Wittner.

Minutes from the July meeting of the Fed showed a move closer to raising interest rates for the first time in almost a decade, but there were concerns that a significant economic slowdown in China could pose risks to the U.S. economy.

The sell-off followed Beijing’s efforts to stabilize the market, including share buying by state-owned companies and a ban on selling by certain major shareholders.

The Canadian dollar was down almost one-fifth of a cent ahead of trading on North American stock markets.

“We’re seeing the impact come through another way, through commodities and the commodity sectors more than a direct effect”, he said. Liberty was down 1.9 per cent at $29.83.

September copper shed 3.05 cents to US$2.32 a pound, and the September contract for natural gas fell 7.3 cents to US$2.728 per thousand cubic feet. “After a while you’ve gotten to a point where there’s nobody left to sell and it bounces back”.

Events in China continued to roil global markets amid fears the value of the yuan will continue to erode.