Stocks fell on Wednesday after Fitch downgraded the long-term rating for the United States, triggering a sell-off for Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped over 300 points, while the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite lost roughly 1.4% and 2%, respectively.

Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): -1.38% or -63.34 points to 4,513.39

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): -0.98% or -348.16 points to 35,282.52

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): -2.17% or -310.47 points to 13,973.45

Driving markets lower, Fitch Ratings lowered the long-term foreign currency issuer default rating for the U.S. to AA+ from AAA aftermarket on Tuesday, citing an "expected fiscal deterioration over the next three years."

"In Fitch's view, there has been a steady deterioration in standards of governance over the last 20 years, including on fiscal and debt matters, notwithstanding the June bipartisan agreement to suspend the debt limit until January 2025," the ratings agency said in a statement.

In May, Fitch had placed the nation's AAA rating on negative watch, citing uncertainty surrounding the nation's debt ceiling discourse between Congress and the Biden administration. The last time the U.S. was downgraded by a major ratings agency was in 2011 when Standard & Poor's cut the nation's credit rating to AA+ after the federal government avoided a default.

Elsewhere on the earnings front, CVS Health (CVS  ) shares rose 3% after the health giant's second quarter earnings topped expectations on both top and bottom lines. The company also kept its full-year adjusted guidance, estimating for earnings between $8.50 and $8.70 per share.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD  ) shares also rose after the chipmaker posted better-than-expected second-quarter results. For the third quarter, AMD said it expects $5.7 billion in sales and for its data center and embedded businesses to grow for the fiscal year. CEO Lisa Su said on a call with investors that the company is increasing its AI-related research and development spendings. "Our goal is to make this a significant growth driver for AMD," Su said.

Match Group (MTCH  ) shares climbed in premarket trading but ultimately ticked lower on Wednesday after issuing strong guidance after better-than-expected second quarter earnings. The Tinder and Hinge partner expects current quarter revenue between $875 million and $885 million, a range higher than analyst consensus.

On the economic front, U.S. private payrolls totaled a more-than-anticipated 324,000 in July, according to a report from ADP. That came well above estimates for 175,000 additions, but was a decline from June's revised print of 455,000 positions.

"The economy is doing better than expected and a healthy labor market continues to support household spending," said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, in a statement. "We continue to see a slowdown in pay growth without broad-based job loss."

Looking ahead, market participants are gearing up for Friday's "official" job market report for July from the Labor Department. Earnings for Qualcomm (QCOM  ), PayPal (PYPL  ) and Shopify (SHOP  ) are also expected after closing bell on Wednesday.