NEW YORK, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks dropped on Friday as heavy selling continued on Wall Street amid recession fears.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 486.27 points, or 1.62 percent, to 29,590.41. The S&P 500 sank 64.76 points, or 1.72 percent, to 3,693.23. The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 198.88 points, or 1.80 percent, to 10,867.93.
All the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in red, with energy and consumer discretionary down 6.75 percent and 2.29 percent, respectively, leading the losses.
The markets reacted in risk-off fashion as fears grew that the Federal Reserve's aggressive policy tightening would induce a recession.
The Fed on Wednesday delivered its third consecutive 75-basis-point rate hike this year, bringing the federal funds rate to a new range of 3 percent to 3.25 percent, in a bid to rein in inflation.
The size of the rate hike was widely expected, but the pace of future tightening implied by the Fed's updated economic projections was more aggressive than anticipated.
Comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell also remained hawkish, stressing that the central bank is focused on achieving price stability. The Fed expects that this will require a sustained period of restrictive monetary policy, sub-trend economic growth, and higher unemployment.
"The Fed's message was loud and clear: Conquering inflation is proving to be much harder than expected, and the pursuit of that goal is likely to come with some collateral damage," analysts at J.P. Morgan said Friday in a note.
For the week, the Dow dropped 4 percent, the S&P 500 slid 4.6 percent and the Nasdaq tumbled 5.1 percent.
