Wall Street slumped Wednesday under the weight of pressure from the bond market

Wall Street slumped under the weight of pressure from the bond market, where Treasury yields climbed on worries about the U.S. government’s spiraling debt and other concerns.

The S&P 500 fell 1.6% Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.9%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1.4%.

Stocks had been drifting only modestly lower earlier in the day, after Target and other retailers gave mixed forecasts for their upcoming profits. The market then turned sharply lower after the U.S. government released the results for its latest auction of 20-year bonds. That helped send Treasury yields jumping.

The S&P 500 fell 95.85 points, or 1.6%, to 5,844.61.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 816.80 points, or 1.9%, to 41,860.44.

The Nasdaq composite fell 270.07 points, or 1.4%, to 18,872.64.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 59.02 points, or 2.8%, to 2,046.56.