Dow Drops To Nearly Ten-Month Low Amid Sell-Off On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading day on Thursday, extending the downward move seen over the two previous sessions. With the sell-off, the Dow fell to its lowest closing level in nearly ten months.

Most of the major sectors showed notable moves to the downside on the day, reflecting broad based selling pressure on Wall Street.

Biotechnology stocks saw substantial weakness, dragging the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index down by 4.6 percent. With the drop, the index ended the session at a three-month closing low.

Celldex Therapeutics (CLDX) and Agios Pharmaceuticals (AGIO) turned in two of the biotech sector's worst performances, tumbling by 10.7 percent and 10.2 percent, respectively.

Significant weakness was also visible among semiconductor, networking, and internet stocks, contributing to the steep drop by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Natural gas, airline, consumer discretionary and banking stocks also fell sharply, while gold stocks were among the few groups to buck the downtrend amid a sharp increase by the price of the precious metal.

The major averages saw further downside going into the close, ending the session at their worst levels of the day. The Dow plummeted 358.04 points or 2.1 percent to 16,990.69, the Nasdaq plunged 141.56 points or 2.8 percent to 4,877.49 and the S&P 500 tumbled 43.88 points or 2.1 percent to 2,035.73.