WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have moved sharply lower during trading on Friday, giving back ground following the strength seen in the previous session. The major averages have all shown notable moves to the downside on the day.
Currently, the Dow is down 495.24 points or 1 percent at 49,568.22, the Nasdaq is down 316.72 points or 1.2 percent at 26,318.50 and the S&P 500 is down 71.77 points or 1 percent at 7,429.47.
The sell-off on Wall Street may partly reflect profit taking following recent strength in the markets, which lifted the Nasdaq and S&P 500 to record highs.
Technology stocks have helped lead the pullback, with Intel (INTC) and Micron Technology (MU) plunging by 6.4 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively. Shares of Nvidia (NVDA) have also tumbled by 3.1 percent.
A sharp increase in treasury yields is also weighing on the markets, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note surging to its highest levels in almost a year.
The spike in treasury yields comes as recent data showing significant accelerations in the pace of consumer and producer price inflation has led to concerns about the outlook for interest rates.
CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 38.5 percent chance rates will be a quarter point higher following the Federal Reserve's last meeting of the year, up from just 13.7 percent a week ago.
The weakness on Wall Street also comes amid a sharp increase by the price of crude oil, as U.S. crude oil futures are surging by more than 3 percent.
The jump in oil prices comes as the summit between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping produced warm words but yielded little progress on the U.S. war with Iran.
Sector News
Gold stocks have moved sharply lower along with the price of the precious metal, resulting in a 7.2 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.
Substantial weakness is also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 3 percent plunge by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.
Airline stocks have also shown a significant move to the downside, dragging the NYSE Arca Airline Index down by 2.9 percent.
Housing, computer hardware and biotechnology stocks are also seeing considerable weakness, while software and oil producer stocks are bucking the downtrend.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower on Friday. China's Shanghai Composite Index slumped by 1 percent, Japan's Nikkei 225 Index tumbled by 2 percent and South Korea's Kospi plunged by 6.1 percent.
The major European markets have also shown significant moves to the downside. While the German DAX Index is down by 2.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 1.9 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 1.7 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved sharply lower amid concerns about the outlook for interest rates. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 11.4 basis points at 4.575 percent.
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