A broad sell-off in technology companies pulled U.S. stocks sharply lower Monday, knocking off more than 450 points from the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Apple, Amazon and other big names fell. Banks and consumer-focused companies and media and communications stocks also took heavy losses. Crude oil prices were headed higher, snapping a 10-day skid, after Saudi Arabia said it planned to cut its output.
The S&P 500 index dropped 40 points, or 1.5 percent, to 2,740 as of 1:29 p.m. The Dow fell 444 points, or 1.7 percent, to 25,544. It was down briefly by 509 points. The Nasdaq composite slid 172 points, or 2.3 percent, to 7,234. The tech-heavy index now has a slight loss for the year. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies gave up 19 points, or 1.3 percent, to 1,529. Bond trading was closed for Veterans Day.
The stock market was coming off a two-week winning streak for the benchmark S&P 500.
“Tech is definitely weighing (on the market),” said Lindsey Bell, investment strategist at CFRA. “The question really is growth. We continue to like tech going into next year, but we think it could be a little bit of a rocky period for the group as we continue through the last two months of the year.”
Apple tumbled 4.2 percent to $195.97 after Wells Fargo analysts said the iPhone maker is the unnamed customer that optical communications company Lumentum Holdings said was significantly reducing orders. Shares in Lumentum plunged 30.6 percent to $38.84.
Several chipmakers were trading lower as part of the slide in technology companies. Advanced Micro Devices gave up 8.3 percent to $19.29, while Nvidia fell 6.9 percent to $191.48. Micron Technology lost 4.2 percent to $37.43.
Banks and other financial companies also took heavy losses. Goldman Sachs slid 7 percent to $207.11.
“Expectations are really that the deregulation process that has benefited banks up to this point is going to be slowed down with the Democrats in charge,” Bell said.
AECOM sank 8.1 percent to $30.06 after the engineering and construction company reported quarterly results and an outlook that disappointed Wall Street analysts.
Investors bid up shares in utilities and other traditionally safe-haven stocks. NRG Energy climbed 5.1 percent to $40.22.
Athenahealth jumped 9.7 percent to $132.01 after the struggling medical billing software maker received a $5.7 billion cash buyout offer.