Tech giants slide, pulling US stock market sharply lower

A broad sell-off in technology companies pulled U.S. stocks sharply lower Monday, knocking off more than 450 points from the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Apple, Amazon and other big names fell.

Banks and consumer-focused companies and media and communications stocks also took heavy losses. Crude oil prices were headed higher, snapping a 10-day skid, after Saudi Arabia said it planned to cut its output.

The S&P 500 index dropped 43 points, or 1.6 per cent, to 2,737 as of 1:07 pm Eastern Time. The Dow fell 467 points, or 1.8 per cent, to 25,521.

The Nasdaq composite slid 178 points, or 2.4 per cent, to 7,228. The tech-heavy index now has a slight loss for the year. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies gave up 15 points, or 1 per cent, to 1,534. Bond trading was closed for Veterans Day.

The stock market was coming off a two-week winning streak for the benchmark S&P 500.

"Tech is definitely weighing (on the market)," said Lindsey Bell, investment strategist at CFRA.

"The question really is growth. We continue to like tech going into next year, but we think it could be a little bit of a rocky period for the group as we continue through the last two months of the year."