U. S. stocks turn lower again

Technology and energy companies led a broad sell- off Thursday on Wall Street that wiped out nearly all of the market’s gains from a strong rally the day before.

The S& P 500 lost 1.8% after having been up briefly by 0.8% in the early going. The slide cut deeply into the benchmark index’s 2% gain Wednesday. The latest gyrations follow a wild stretch where the S& P 500 careened from its worst three- day slump since June to its best day in nearly three months.

Tech stocks accounted for the biggest share of the broad selloff. The Nasdaq, which is full of tech stocks, slumped 10% from last Thursday through Tuesday and recovered for a 2.7% gain Wednesday. It lost most of that ground Thursday, falling 2% after shedding an early gain.

Health care stocks and companies that rely on consumer spending also took hefty losses. Energy companies fell the most as the price of U. S. crude oil prices dropped 2%. Treasury yields also fell, a sign of caution in the market. The price of gold rose 0.5%.

The S& P 500 fell 59.77 points to 3,339.19, its fourth decline in five days. The index is on pace for its second straight weekly loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 405.89 points, or 1.5%, to 27,534.58. The Nasdaq gave up 221.97 points to 10,919.59. The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks lost 18.73 points, or 1.2%, to 1,507.75.

In Europe, the German DAX lost 0.2%, the French CAC 40 fell 0.4% and the FTSE 100 in London dropped 0.2%. Asian markets finished mixed.