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New York - US stocks sank on Thursday led by Apple's 3.8% drop, amid a combination of worries over heady valuations and quarter-end profit taking.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 264.26 points (1.54%) at 16 945.80.
The broad-based S&P 500 lost 32.31 (1.62%) at 1 965.99, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite tumbled 88.47 (1.94%) to 4 466.75.
Apple's embarrassing problems with its new operating system and criticisms that its new iPhones are too easily bent sparked its fall.
Peter Cardillo at Rockwell Global Capital cited a variety of concerns behind the broader sell-off, including geopolitical issues and weak economic data.
But he also pointed to profit-taking as the third quarter draws to a close.
"Investors are closing their books and they might be cashing in on a lot of their profits," he said.
All 30 Dow blue chips fell, led by UnitedHealth and JPMorgan Chase, both down 2.3%.
Besides Apple, other tech shares took sharp turns downward: Twitter fell 3.0%, Yahoo 2.3% and Microsoft 2.2%.
Alibaba, the Chinese internet giant that went public last week, continued to hold up well above its $68 IPO price. Shares lost 1.8% at $88.92.
Jabil Circuit, which provides advanced electronics to computing, aerospace and other industries, dipped 2.2% as the company confirmed its 2015 core earnings forecast of $1.65-$1.95.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 2.51% from 2.57%, while the 30-year dropped to 3.22% from 3.28%.
