NEW YORK: US stocks joined a world equity selloff Friday on global growth fears and anxiety about the upcoming British vote on exiting the European Union.
Especially hard-hit sectors included banks, which faltered on diving yields on bonds, and energy, which suffered due to falling oil prices.
Analysts said global growth worries have been exacerbated by the June 23 “Brexit” vote in Britain, with some new polls showing gains for the “leave” faction.
“People are rushing to safety… prompted by fears of the British referendum,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7 percent to 17,865.34.
The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 0.9 percent to 2,096.07, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 1.3 percent to 4,894.55.
Tesla Motors dropped 4.6 percent after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration criticized it for pushing customers to sign nondisclosure agreements for free or discounted repairs. The issue surfaced after a customer complained over suspension failures on a Model S sedan. Tesla denied that there was a general problem with the suspensions.
