NEW YORK, Aug. 24 -- U.S. stocks continued to plunge Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average diving more than 500 points, as a rout in global markets continued to intensify.

The Dow tumbled 588.47 points, or 3.58 percent, to 15,871.28. The S&P 500 shed 77.68 points, or 3.94 percent, to 1,893.21. The Nasdaq Composite Index sank 179.79 points, or 3.82 percent, to4,526.25.

The New York Stock Exchange invoked a rule saying market makers don't have to disseminate price indications before the opening bell in an effort to make it easier and faster to open stocks on a volatile trading day, according to Reuters.

The Chinese stock markets had their worst day in eight years with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index tumbling 8.49 percent to close at 3,209.91 points.

It has been reported that weak economic data have fueled worries that a drop-off in Chinese growth could cause a global slowdown.

European equities also dived on Monday following previous session's deep decline, as the Stoxx Europe 600 was down over 6 percent and Germany's DAX fell 4 percent.

Last week, the three major indices witnessed the worst week in nearly four years, with the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq diving 5.8 percent, 5.8 percent and 6.8 percent, respectively.

In other markets, the U.S. dollar dropped against most major currencies on Monday as investors lowered their expectation for an interest-rate hike this year. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 1.71 percent at 93.386 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1591 dollars from1.1359 dollars in the previous session, while the dollar bought118.62 Japanese yen, lower than 122.06 yen of the previous session.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell on Monday following a slump in other metals, despite a weakening U.S. dollar.

The most active gold contract for December delivery fell 6 U.S. dollars, or 0.52 percent, to settle at 1,153.60 dollars per ounce.