Late Selloff Whips Wall Street

Those moves came as gold futures hit an all-time high of $883.80 and finished up $18.30 to $880.30 an ounce.

Also in commodities, crude oil climbed $1.24 to end at $96.33 a barrel. During the previous session, crude plummeted nearly 3% just days after crossing the $100-a-barrel level.

Elsewhere, Starbucks (SBUX Quote) said late Monday that CEO Jim Donald has been replaced by founder and Chairman Howard Schultz. Shares of the coffee chain have tumbled 30% over the last six months amid increasing competition.

Following the announcement, Banc of America Securities upgraded Starbucks to neutral from sell, and shares surged $1.59, or 8.7%, to $19.97.

U.S. Treasury prices finished the day mixed. The 10-year note rose 4/32 in price, yielding 3.82%. The 30-year bond slid 2/32 in price, yielding 4.34%.

"Short-term market movements are typically driven by some combination of fear or greed," said Bill Stone, chief investment strategist with PNC Wealth Management, in a note. "We have again entered the fear stage as fear of the unknown has overwhelmed any of the positive valuation data."

Overseas markets were mixed. Overnight in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 tacked on 0.2%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was lower by 0.3%. In Europe bourses, London's FTSE 100 added 0.3%, and Germany's Xetra Dax was up 0.4%.