Advertisment
U.S. stocks fell sharply on Thursday, pressured by worries of a potential trade war and a decline in tech shares. The broader market was also pressured by a decline in bank stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average wilted 494.69 points, or 2%, to reach noon ET at 24,187.62, with Caterpillar, 3M and Boeing as the biggest decliners.
The S&P 500 slipped 49.18 points, or 1.8%, to 2,662.75, with tech and financials dropping more than 2%.
The NASDAQ composite Index faltered 141.27 points, or 1.9%, to 7,204.01
Google-parent Alphabet fell 2.7% and dipped into correction territory.
Bank stocks, meanwhile, fell along with Treasury yields. Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America all traded lower.
Tech shares have been under pressure lately amid a sharp decline in Facebook shares. News broke recently that data research firm Cambridge Analytica gathered data from 50 million Facebook profiles without the permission of its users.
Shares of Facebook have been under pressure all week, sliding 8.5% through Wednesday's close. On Thursday, the social media behemoth’s shares dropped 1.7%
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg broke his silence over the news, telling media outlets it had been "a major breach of trust, and I'm really sorry that this happened."
Stocks hit their lows of after The New York Times reported John Dowd resigned as Trump's lead lawyer in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.
Stocks were also pressured as the Trump administration was set to announce later on Thursday tariffs designed to punish China for intellectual property theft. Some reports indicate the administration will slap $50 billion in tariffs to Chinese goods.
Investors also digested the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy decision. As widely expected by the markets, the Fed raised interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday and upgraded its economic outlook, saying that economic activity and jobs gains had been strong in recent months.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note grew sharply to lower yields to 2.82% from Wednesday’s 2.89%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices moved back 68 cents a barrel to $64.49 U.S.
Gold prices gained $6.90 to $1,328.40 U.S. an ounce.
