The Oracle of Omaha once called this ratio "probably the best single measure of where valuations stand at any given moment." ...

The move spooked investors, raising fears of fresh inflationary pressure in the US as higher import costs could lead to price hikes in the coming months.

Also weighing on equities was an 8.3% tumble in Amazon.com shares after the company posted quarterly results but failed to meet lofty expectations for its Amazon Web Services cloud computing unit ...