Wall Street stocks plunged as stumbles by high-flying technology shares sparked a broader selloff yesterday amid rising fears of a trade war.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index led the market lower, dropping 2.7 per cent to 6,870.12.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.9 per cent at 23,644.19, while the broad-based S&P 500 shed 2.2 per cent to 2,581.88.
The ugliest losses were experienced by tech giants such as Amazon, Facebook and Tesla Motors, each following specific catalysts that spurred selling.
But in a worrisome development, the liquidation spread to a broader slate of companies, including American Express, Home Depot, Nike and Dow DuPont, all of which lost two per cent or more.
"It started with the tech stocks and it's become 'throw the baby out with the bathwater,'" said J J Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade.
"They're reassessing the valuation on the entire market," said Kinahan. "A while ago all news was good news. Now news is all things to be afraid of."
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