The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 559.85 points, or 1.75 percent, to 31,402.01. The S&P 500 decreased 96.09 points, or 2.45 percent, to 3,829.34. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 478.54 points, or 3.52 percent, to 13,119.43.
All the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors pulled back, with consumer discretionary and technology closing down 3.61 percent and 3.53 percent, respectively, leading the losses.
U.S.-listed Chinese companies traded lower with all the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index ending the day on a downbeat note.
Investors dumped risk assets, especially high-flying tech shares, as bond yields jumped. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury climbed to above 1.5 percent on Thursday. It briefly topped the 1.6-percent level during the session, its highest level in more than a year. The yield on the 30-year Treasury also rose.
Higher yields make bonds a more viable alternative to stocks, particularly those that have seen their valuations stretch, experts noted.
On the data front, U.S. initial jobless claims, a rough way to measure layoffs, dropped by 111,000 to 730,000 in the week ending Feb. 20, the Department of Labor reported on Thursday. Claims were expected to total 845,000 in the latest week.
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