LIVE MARKETS-Four on the floor: Stock rout rolls on as oil surges, Treasury yields jump

On the sector level, winners were few and far between. Consumer staples and communication services eked out unimpressive gains.

The biggest underperformers included gold/silver miners, chips, and housing-related stocks.

On the company level, Apple provided a flash of bright green, rising 3.6% the day after its most significant product unveiling in years initially failed to impress.

The day began with a Producer Prices report, which came in hot, though largely as expected. But energy prices, which eased over the last few months, surged 4.2% from July and 24.3% year-on-year, both entirely attributable to the ongoing strife in the Middle East.

Front-month WTI and Brent crude futures settled up 6.7% and 6.3%, respectively, both surpassing the $100 per barrel mark, and fears over prolonged, systemic, hot inflation begin to look more like a foregone conclusion.

Markets are now baking in a 73.1% likelihood of a 25-basis-point interest rate hike at the end of Warsh & Co's policy meeting next week, up from 49.4% a week ago, according to CME's FedWatch tool.

Investors are now laser-focused on Friday's consumer price index (CPI) report for August, which is expected to show monthly and annual growth of 0.4% and 3.4%, respectively. Excluding food and energy prices, so-called core CPI is forecast to show a 0.2% increase from July, and year-on-year growth of 2.4%.

Any sizeable surprise in either direction will likely change the calculus regarding rate hike bets.

Wall Street's selloff extended through its fourth consecutive day on Thursday, as hot inflation data stoked inflation jitters, increased the odds of near-term policy tightening from the Federal Reserve, and sent U.S. Treasury yields surging.