Thursday's early afternoon trade: Wall Street extends losses

US stocks slid on Thursday as a brokerage's bearish view of the semiconductor industry hit technology shares and a key economic report raised concerns about the recovery, curbing the appetite for riskier assets. The US dollar's gain was another headwind for stocks as it pressured prices of natural resources like crude oil and gold, pushing down shares of companies such as Alcoa and US Steel Corp.
The S&P materials index shed 2.1 percent. Dow component Intel fell 4.7 percent to $19.18, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor index dropped 3.6 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 136.72 points, or 1.31 percent, to 10,289.59. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 19.27 points, or 1.74 percent, to 1,090.53. The Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 43.85 points, or 2.00 percent, to 2,149.29.