U.S. stocks have turned lower in afternoon trading on Thursday as the new year gets off to a volatile start for markets.
Consumer-discretionary and information-technology stocks were the two worst-performing sectors in the S&P 500. The former was largely the result of nearly a 7% drop in shares of Tesla Inc.
Stocks have given up early gains, with the S&P 500 down 1.6% from its session high, according to FactSet data.
Losses for semiconductor heavyweight Nvidia Corp. and consumer-tech giant Apple Inc. helped weigh on the tech sector. Beyond that, losses were more or less evenly distributed across the index’s other sectors. Only two of the 11 sectors remained in the green in recent trade: utilities and energy stocks.
Here is where stocks stood in recent trade:
The S&P 500 was down 41 points, or 0.7%, at 5,840.
The Nasdaq Composite was down by 160 points, or 0.8%, at 19,150.
The Dow was off by 300 points, or 0.7%, at 42,247.