[DEEP RED] Dow, Nasdaq Plunge 3% Into Correction, First Time Since 2011

• U.S. stocks closed deep in the red on Friday as global growth concerns accelerated selling pressure to push the Dow into correction territory.
• The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 500 points, into correction territory for the first time since 2011 as all blue chips declined. In the last five years, the index has only had four instances with closing losses of more than 400 points.

“For investors the momentum and the drive of the market is now lower (than) it used to be because there’s no place to hide,” said Lance Roberts, general partner at STA Wealth Management. “Every time we hit the major technical points we kept selling.”

• A traders noted that investors stopped looking at techincals and were plowing through them.

“It’s an expiration day and it looks like they’re to have for sale on the close maybe as much as a billion dollars,” said Art Cashin, director of floor trading for UBS.

• The Nasdaq Composite lost more than 3 percent, also closing in correction territory and joining the other major averages in negative territory for the year.
• Apple lost about 6 percent, into bear market territory, and the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) plunged 2.5 percent.

“Right now there is a feeling of fear in the marketplace and all news is interpreted negatively and it’s interpreted indiscriminately,” said Tom Digenan, head of U.S. equities as UBS Global Asset Management.

• The S&P 500 fell through support levels to fall below 2,000 and 1,980, off more than 6 percent from its 52-week high. The index is off more than 2.5 percent for the year so far. All 10 sectors of the index declined.
• As of Friday morning, 28 percent of the S&P 500 was in a bear market.

“It’s more of the same,” said Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at The Lindsey Group. “From a technical perspective we broke” 2,040 on the S&P 500, the lower end of the trading range.

• The Russell 2000 attempted slight gains after dipping into correction territory.
• The major averages approached correction territory and on track for their worst week since 2011. Earlier, the averages briefly attempted to halve losses in mid-morning trade.

“I think uncertainty about China (and) general negativity is weighing on the market. There’s a lack of positive economic news to motivate buyers,” said David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Funds. He noted “there’s nothing particularly negative in the U.S. economic outlook.”

• Oil reversed Thursday’s late gains to briefly fall below $40 a barrel to $39.86 for the first time since March 2009.
• Crude oil futures for October delivery settled down 87 cents, or 2.11 percent, at $40.45 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures for December delivery settled up $6.40 at $1,159.60 an ounce.
• Source: CNBC