Wall Street slumps as tech sector leads losses

Another slide in technology companies helped pull stocks lower onWall Street on Thursday, extending losses from the day before.

The S&P 500 lost 0.8% after having been down 1.7% earlier. The selling was widespread, with eight of the 11 sectors that make up the benchmark index ending the day lower. The sectors that include Amazon, Facebook and Apple took the heaviest losses.

The selling came a day after the Federal Reserve said it will keep interest rates at nearly zero for years to support the wheezing economy. The statement failed to encourage Wall Street, and the S&P 500 recorded its first loss in four daysWednesday.

Low interest rates are usually a boon for investors, sending stocks soaring. So why the sell-off? Analysts gave varying reasons for the market’s weakness. Among them: the gloomy outlook Fed Chair Jerome Powell gave for the economy’s prospects and built-up expectations by some that the Fed would be even more generous with its stimulus. It isn’t the first hangover stocks have suffered following a rate announcement by the Fed.

While the market took more losses Thursday, the selling eased toward the end of the day. The S&P 500 fell 28.48 points to 3,357.01. The DowJones Industrial Average lost 130.40 points, or 0.5%, to 27,901.98. It had been down 384 points.

The Nasdaq composite, which is heavily weighted with technology stocks, slid 140.19 points, or 1.3%, to 10,910.28. The Russell2000indexof smallcompany stocks gave up 9.73 points, or 0.6%, to 1,542.60.

Another possibility for the downward turn is the diminishing odds that Congress will deliver more aid for the economy anytime soon after benefits for unemployed workers and other stimulus expired recently.