Nasdaq, S&P 500 fall over 2% on weak economic data

The US equity markets saw a worst one-day drop in 2013 on Monday, impacted by economic data from China and US housing & manufacturing data. CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) surged by 43 percent to end above 17.

Weak data from China also triggered commodity sell-off yesterday. China's gross domestic growth (GDP) growth unexpectedly slowed to 7.7 percent in the first quarter of 2013 as against 7.9 percent in previous quarter.

Towards mid afternoon, the news of a blast at the finish line of the Boston marathon also spooked investors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.79 percent or 265.86 points to 14,599.2. The Nasdaq Composite tumbled 2.38 percent or 78.46 points to 3,216.49. The Standard & Poor's 500 tanked 2.3 percent or 36.49 points to 1,552.36.

NY Fed's Empire State index slowed to 3.05 in April while Homebuilder sentiment slipped for third straight month.

Citi profit rose 30 percent as investment banking increased.

Watch out for following data:
-Consumer Price Index
-Housing Starts
-Industrial Production