World stock tumble

U.S. stocks extended a global slide, sending the MSCI World Index down the most in two months, as falling oil and metal prices weighed on commodity producers. Treasuries rose and the dollar strengthened.

US stocks got off to a poor start Monday, with the major indices ending more than 2% in the red, as doubt grows over the sustainability of the recent rally.

This came after a weaker-than-expected regional manufacturing report dented hopes about the economy's health ? the New York Fed's Empire State index showed that the factory sector shrank at a much more severe pace in June vs. the street's expectation of a slight improvement.

The CBOE Volatility Index VIX, the benchmark gauge for U.S. stock volatility, jumped the most since April 20 as the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's general economic index fell to minus 9.4 from in June from minus 4.6. Readings below zero signal manufacturing is shrinking. Economists in a survey predicted minus 4.6. U.S. stocks fell even as the International Monetary Fund raised its outlook for the U.S. economy. The VIX, which ended at 30.81, also posted its biggest gain of 9.5% since late Apr.

The major stock indexes "are back above their 200-day averages, and it's increasingly tempting to conclude that a new bull market is under way," Toronto-based Ray Hanson wrote in a report dated June 12. However, the S&P 500 "has not yet achieved a golden cross" and "the steadily declining volume since early May suggests caution," he said.