The Dow Jones Industrials faltered 348.99 points, or 1.1%, to finish Thursday at 33.027.49
The S&P 500 jettisoned 56.05 points, or 1.5% at 3,822.39.
The NASDAQ Composite Index let go of 233.25 points, or 2.2%, to 10,476.12.
This decline follows a 526-point rally in the Dow on Wednesday after better-than-expected earnings from Nike and FedEx, as well as strong consumer sentiment data for December. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite each surged 1.5% Wednesday.
However, the selling returned Thursday as investors remained concerned that further monetary tightening from central banks around the world will push the economy into a recession. Tech shares led the losses, with semiconductor companies such as Lam Research plunged 10% and Advanced Micro Devices fell 7%
Tesla shares dropped more than 8% after the automaker began to offer $7,500 discounts on some of its vehicles, adding to investor concerns of slowing demand at the company.
CarMax shares dropped more than 5% after the used car retailer missed profit and revenue expectations. Micron Technology shares slipped nearly 5% on disappointing quarterly results, dragging down other chip stocks. One-time meme stock darling AMC dropped 13% after announcing a capital raise.
So far in December, the Dow is down 5.6%, while the S&P 500 has given back 7.5%, and the NASDAQ tumbled 9.7%. All three major averages are slated to break a three-year win streak and post their worst yearly performance since 2008.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury lost slightly, raising yields to 3.68% from Wednesday’s 3.67%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dipped 16 cents to $78.13 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices staggered $25.40 to $1,804.90 U.S. an ounce.