U.S. stocks plummeted Friday, capping off five days of stunning losses that
handed the Nasdaq composite index its worst weekly performance of all time
and the Dow Jones industrial average its steepestone-session point loss in
history.
The Dow tumbled more than 600 points, trouncing the previous record and
triggering circuit breakers at the New York Stock Exchange. The sell-off
gave the Nasdaq its biggest point loss of all time, topping the last No. 1
plunge set just five days ago.
But the statistical standout could be this: the Nasdaq fell more than 25
percent this week, trouncing the 19 percent fall that began Oct. 21, 1987,
Black Monday.
Friday's plunge came after the government said prices at the consumer level
showed surprising strength last month, triggering fears that the Federal
Reserve may raise interest rates more aggressively.
The Nasdaq composite index shed 355.61 points, or over 9 percent, to
3,321.17, its biggest one-day decline on record. At one point during the
trading session, the Nasdaq was down 411 points. The index lost over 1,000
points this week and is now off more than 34 percent from its record high
set March 10 - well beyond the 20 percent decline Wall Street sees as the
beginning of a bear market.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones industrial average skidded 616.23 points to
10,307.32, off over 5 percent, but an improvement from its 722-point drop in
the last hour of trading. The broader S&P 500 index fell 83.20 to 1,357.31.