By Medha Singh
Dec 27 () - U.S. stocks fell broadly on Thursday, giving back a chunk of the previous day's big rally, as fresh concerns arose about the U.S. economy with a measure of consumer confidence dropping by the most in more than three years.
The pullback on the heels of Wednesday's huge advance, which featured the Dow Jones Industrial Average's first-ever 1,000 point daily surge, was led by the technology stalwarts that have also been under some of the greatest selling pressure since late summer. Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc all fell by 2 percent or more.
"While retail sales have been very strong, consumer confidence has ticked down here and that could continue unless there is progress made on trade, in the U.S. budget battle and certainly central bank's policy," said Bryan Reilly, a managing director in the Boston office of CIBC Private Wealth Management.
A drop in oil prices led to a 2.58 percent slide in the energy index, while technology, consumer discretionary and communication services sectors tumbled more than 2 percent.
Barely seven stocks on the S&P 500 were higher, while all the 30 components of the Dow were in the red.
At 11:16 a.m. ET the Dow was down 410.42 points, or 1.79 percent, at 22,468.03, the S&P 500 was down 44.64 points, or 1.81 percent, at 2,423.06 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 135.28 points, or 2.06 percent, at 6,419.07.
The three indexes are down more than 12 percent for the month.
"It's been a very difficult environment. The markets haven't really been trading on fundamentals very much. But with low liquidity and trading models responsible for the majority of trades in recent days, it might not be until the new year till you see greater stability," said Reilly.
President Donald Trump said he was prepared to wait as long as it takes to get funding for his U.S.-Mexico border wall, a demand that has triggered a partial shutdown of the federal government that is now in its fifth day.
Separately, reported Trump is considering an executive order in the new year that would bar U.S. companies from using telecommunications equipment made by China'sHuawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE.
This comes as China and the United States plan face-to-face consultations to resolve their trade dispute, which has rocked stock markets, along with concerns over slowing economic growth and rising interest rates.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 4.52-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and for a 2.65-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded no new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded three new highs and 132 new lows.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
