In afternoon trading, the Nasdaq was 0.7% lower. The Dow was down 0.7%, and the S&P 500 was off 0.5%.
Global markets skidded, with a key Japan index tumbling 2.4% and major European indexes sliding 1% or more.
Investors remain jittery following Thursday's big selloff, which hit once high-flying biotech and Internet shares the hardest and sent the Nasdaq skidding 3.1%, its worst one-day percentage decline since Nov. 9, 2011. The selling spilled over into less-risky indexes such as the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500.
INFLATION: Producer price index up 0.5%
THURSDAY: Nasdaq plunges 3%; Dow closes down 267 points
NASDAQ: Worst swoon since 2011 puts investors on edge
Wall Street was also reacting to mixed earnings from the U.S. banking sector. J.P. Morgan Chase had a tough first quarter, with profits tanking 19% to $5.3 billion and the bank missing analyst earnings targets by 12 cents. On the plus side, Wells Fargo earned $5.9 billion, up 14% from a year ago, posting earnings of $1.05 per share, which topped estimates by 8 cents.
The steep and sudden market drop has dented optimism in Wall Street and prompted nervous investors to lighten up on stocks and shift their money into less volatile assets, such as U.S. government bonds. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves in the opposite direction of stocks, dropped to 2.61%, down from 2.65% Thursday and 2.8% a week ago. At the end of 2013, the yield was 3.03%.
But despite the carnage in so-called "momentum" stocks and the rising uncertainty, some Wall Street pros are advising investors not to panic.
"Big day for markets," says Michael Farr of money-management firm Farr Miller & Washington. "Bonds are rallying. And there is a clear rotation to quality, but it's too early to tell if that's all this! is. We are overdue for a correction. No need to panic, but expect a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth."
The tech-stock rout in the U.S. also dragged down Asian and European stock markets, with stocks sliding in Asia and Europe.
"After a challenging day for the U.S. (Thursday), the rest of the world has decided Friday is not a buy day," Bespoke Investment Group told clients in a research note.
Friday's focus will be on how the tech-laden Nasdaq composite reacts to Thursday's beating. If the technology stock sell-off continues, and one-time stars like Facebook and Tesla continue to plummet, a more widespread market correction could follow. In early trading Facebook's shares rebounded from some early losses and were up 45 cents, or 0.8%, to $59.61 and Tesla moved back into positive territory, as well, climbing 0.5%. The fact they are holding up is positive.
On Thursday, the Nasdaq dropped 129.79 points, or 3.1%, to 4,054.11. It was its worst single-day point drop since Aug. 18, 2011, when the index dropped 131.05 points. The Dow fell 266.96 points, or 1.6%, to 16,170.22 and the S&P 500 plunged 39.10 points, or 2.1%, to 1,833.08.
In a report an hour before markets opened, the Labor Department said the producer price index, which measures price changes before they reach the consumer, rose 0.5% in March. Overall inflation remains relatively tame.
Tech socks were marked down in Asia, as the same concerns about unrealistic valuations being shared on Wall Street spread. The Nikkei 225 index dove 340.07 points, or 2.4%, to close at 13,960.05. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 183.32 points, or 0.8%, to close at 23,003.64 and the Shanghai composite lost 3.76 points, or 0.2%, to 2,130.54.
European benchmarks tumbled as well.
The FTSE 100 of Britain ended down 1.2%, Germany's DAX closed off 1.5% and France's CAC-40 finished 1.1% lower.
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