U.S. stocks d sharply lower Thursday, extending last week's steep losses, as investors continued to grapple with interest hikes while digesting a batch of economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 327.23 points, or 1.27 percent, to 25,379.45. The S&P 500 declined 40.43 points, or 1.44 percent, to 2,768.78. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 157.56 points, or 2.06 percent, to 7,485.14.
Caterpillar and IBM slid 3.92 percent and 2.61 percent, respectively, leading the laggards in the Dow. Nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors d lower, with consumer discretionary and technology down more than 2 percent, leading the losers. A broad sell-off in tech shares weighed on the Nasdaq.
Among the reasons for selling on Thursday were worries about rising interest rates and concerns over global growth, experts noted.
The two-year U.S. bond yield rose to its highest level in more than a decade, breaking above 2.9 percent in early trading. The benchmark 10-year note yield also hit as high as 3.21 percent before retreating.
The rising bond rates came one day after the Federal Reserve released the minutes from its September meeting.
The minutes released on Wednesday afternoon showed that the central bank remains convinced it needs to tighten monetary policy to keep the economy steady.
The U.S. stock market was under pressure due to increasing concerns over rate hikes since the beginning of October.
Wall Street was anxious that the climbing of borrowing costs could slow down the economy.
The rate fears offset the optimism boosted by the better-than-expected quarterly earnings from major U.S. companies.
Investor sentiment was also dented by the losses in overseas stock markets.
On economic data, in the week ending October 13, the number of U.S. initial jobless claims was 210,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index fell to 22.2 in October from 22.9 in September. A reading above zero indicates improving conditions.
