Dow And S&P 500 Plummet To Lowest Closing Levels In A Month

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading day on Friday, as weakness in other markets generated substantial selling pressure. The losses on the day extended the notable downward move seen in the previous session.

Most of the major sectors showed significant moves to the downside, reflecting the broad based nature of the sell-off on Wall Street.

Transportation stocks posted particularly steep losses on the day, dragging the Dow Jones Transportation Average down by 4.1 percent. With the loss, the average pulled back well off the record closing high set on Thursday.

Kansas City Southern (KSU) helped to lead the transportation sector lower, with the railroad company plummeting by 15.2 percent after reporting weaker than expected fourth quarter earnings.

Significant weakness was also visible among steel stocks, as reflected by the 3.7 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Steel Index. The loss extended a recent downward move by the index, which fell to its lowest closing level in over three months.

Computer hardware stocks also saw considerable weakness, pulling back off their recent highs. The NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index tumbled by 3.4 percent after ending Thursday's trading at a record closing high.

Biotechnology, housing, defense, and chemical stocks also moved sharply lower on the day, while gold stocks saw relatively modest weakness.

The major averages saw further downside going into the close, ending the session at their worst levels of the day. The Dow plummeted 318.24 points or 2 percent to 15,879.11, the Nasdaq dove 90.70 points or 2.2 percent to 4,128.17 and the S&P 500 plunged 38.17 points or 2.1 percent to 1,790.29.

For the first time in over a month, the Dow and the S&P 500 closed below 16,000 and 1,800, respectively. The major averages also fell sharply for the week, with the Dow tumbling by 5.3 percent and seeing its worst week since 2012.