Stocks fell sharply on Thursday, adding to already steep losses for the month of October.
The Dow Jones Industrials collapsed 327.23 points, or 1.3%, to close at 25,379.49, led by declines in Caterpillar.
The S&P 500 slumped 40.43 points, or 1.4%, to 2,768.78, as the consumer discretionary and tech sectors lagged.
The NASDAQ plummeted 157.56 points, or 2.1%, to 7,485.14
Thursday's declines added to the market's steep losses for the month. The Dow and S&P 500 have fallen more than 4% each, while the NASDAQ is down nearly 7% in October. Tech, the largest S&P 500 sector by market cap, is among the laggards this month, dropping 7.1%.
Several stocks seen as economic bellwethers fell sharply in the U.S., including United Rentals and Textron, which dropped at least 11% each. Snap-on dropped 9.6%, and Caterpillar, meanwhile, fell 3.9%. Large-cap tech shares like Facebook and Amazon both fell more than 2.5%, along with Alphabet and Netflix.
Housing stocks fell as rates rose, and after Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded shares of Toll Brothers and PulteGroup, along with NVR, as it reduced its forecast for housing starts.
The stronger yields offset strong corporate earnings results released Thursday. Dow-member Travelers, Bank of New York Mellon, BB&T and Danaher were among the companies that reported better-than-expected earnings before the bell.
Investors came into the earnings season with high hopes. Analysts polled by FactSet expected third-quarter earnings to have grown by 19% on a year-over-year basis. So far, the season is off to a good start. Of the S&P 500 companies that have reported, 84.1% have posted better-than-expected profits.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 3.17% from Wednesday’s 3.2%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slid $1.06 at $68.69 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $1.50 an ounce to $1,228.80
