US stocks were sharply lower heading into the midpoint of trading on Thursday, with each of the major indexes falling more than one percent and the S&P dropping through a key support level as Apple shares slumped. Apple shares, down 3.3 percent to $98.39, were the biggest drag on both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indexes, after it pulled back an update to its new operating system.
In broad selling, each of the ten major S&P sectors was in negative territory, with the S&P technology index the worst performer, down 2 percent. The S&P 500 also broke through its 50-day moving average around 1,976, a key support level which the index had been able to rebound off of when recently tested. The Dow Jones industrial average was falling 205.7 points, or 1.2 percent, to 17,004.36, the S&P 500 was losing 24.45 points, or 1.22 percent, to 1,973.85 and the Nasdaq Composite was dropping 73.35 points, or 1.61 percent, to 4,481.87. Each of the major indexes were on track for their worst drop since July 31.