The three major indexes on Wall Street had massive losses on Friday as investors have seen a higher possibility that the U.S. Federal Reserve could raise interest rates faster this year with strong economic data.
The Dow Jones plummeted 665 points, or 2.54 percent, to end the last trading day of the week at 25,520 points. This is the biggest daily point decline for the index since December 2008 and the largest daily percentage decline since Brexit in June 2016.
The S&P 500 lost 59 points, or 2.12 percent, to close at 2,762 points, while the Nasdaq fell 144 points, or 1.96 percent, to end trading at 7,240 points.
This week, the Dow declined 4.1 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq declined 3.9 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively.
It was also the steepest weekly decline for the the S&P since January 2016. For Nasdaq, it was the largest weekly fall since February 2016.
Most of the decrease was seen in energy and tech stocks.
After failing to beat estimates earlier this week, Microsoft shares fell 2.6 percent. Apple and Google's parent company Alphabet saw their stock value decline 4.3 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively.
Energy giants ExxonMobil and Chevron shares were down 5.1 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively, at the final bell.
American economy added 200,000 jobs in January, the Department of Labor announced earlier. The market expectation was an increase of 180,000.
Average hourly earnings, which the Fed watches closely for inflation, increased 0.3 percent in January on a monthly basis, and 2.9 percent on an annual basis.
The increase in average hourly earnings reached its highest level on an annual basis since June 2009, and this may bring up the inflation to the Fed's two percent target.
This also has increased the possibility that the Fed could make four, instead of three, interest rate hikes this year, according to analysts.
By Ovunc Kutlu in New York
Anadolu Agency
ovunc.kutlu@aa.com.tr