U.S. stocks closed sharply lower on Friday, with major indexes suffering their latest bout of heavy volatility as concerns over rising trade-related tensions between China and the U.S. weighed on sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -2.34% fell 2.4% to 23,930. The S&P 500 SPX, -2.19% sank 2.2% to 2,604. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -2.28% lost 2.3% to 6,915.
With the day’s decline, all three dropped into negative territory for the week. The Dow fell 0.7% while the S&P lost 1.4% and the Nasdaq dropped 2.1%.
Recent volatility in the U.S. equity market has been extremely elevated, with major indexes posting triple the number of 1% moves, in either direction, that were seen over all of 2017.
Friday is the fifth time in 2018 that the Dow has dropped at least 2%. It saw no 2% drops in 2017. Among the day’s biggest decliners were Boeing Co. BA, -3.06% which fell 3.1%, and Caterpillar Inc. CAT, -3.47% which lost 3.5%.
