“The fear is the U.S. is losing its standing as the safe haven,” said George Cipolloni, a fund manager at Penn Mutual Asset ...

Of the 30 Dow stocks, 17 were falling. The S&P 500 was hovering slightly above breakeven. The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.3%.

"We are becoming increasingly concerned that the dollar is at risk of a broader confidence crisis," Deutsche Bank wrote.

The University of Michigan's closely watched index of consumer sentiment nosedived to 57.9 in mid-March from 64.7 last month, much weaker than expectations of 63.2. It marks the lowest level since ...