NEW YORK, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks fell sharply on Friday with the Nasdaq shedding 2.7 percent, as sell-off deepened on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 450.52 points, or 1.3 percent, to 34,265.37. The S&P 500 fell 84.79 points, or 1.89 percent, to 4,397.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index sank 385.10 points, or 2.72 percent, to 13,768.92, falling deeper into correction territory.
Ten of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in red, with communication services and consumer discretionary down 3.88 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively, leading the laggards. Consumer staples rose 0.02 percent, the lone gaining group.
Tech-related stocks continued to get hammered on Friday.
Shares of U.S. streaming giant Netflix tumbled more than 21 percent on its disappointing quarterly report.
Other big tech names including Amazon, Tesla and Meta Platforms also closed noticeably lower.
U.S.-listed Chinese companies traded mostly lower with nine of the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index ending the day on a downbeat note.
The Cboe Volatility Index, widely considered as the best fear gauge in the stock market, spiked 12.74 percent to 28.85 on Friday.
For the week, the Dow and the S&P 500 dropped 4.6 percent and 5.7 percent, respectively, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq erased 7.6 percent. ■
