• Stocks on major world markets slid to a three-month low on Wednesday, with the benchmark S&P500 stock index falling more than 3.0 percent, its biggest one-day fall since February.
Technology shares tumbled on fears of slowing demand, while bond yields ended lower after seeing multi-year highs earlier this week.
• Major equity indexes in Europe fell more than 1.0 percent, also pulled down by technology shares, and gold prices inched up as some investors sought refuge in the metal.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 831.83 points, or 2.2 percent, to 25,598.74. The S&P 500 lost 94.66 points, or 3.29 percent, to 2,785.68 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 315.97 points, or 4.08 percent, to 7,422.05.
Both the Dow and S&P 500 posted their biggest one-day drops since early February, while the Nasdaq notched its largest single day sell-off since June 24,2016.
• Stocks are in the midst of a scary October slump, sliding sharply because investors are worried about rising interest rates.
Tech is taking its lumps because bond yields have climbed in recent weeks, hovering at a more-than-seven-year high.
Although that's largely because the US economy is so strong, the spike in rates for the benchmark US 10-Year Treasury has investors wondering if the near-decade-old bull market may finally be ending.
Higher long-term rates could slow down red hot sectors of the economy, including technology, especially as the Federal Reserve seems intent on raising short-term rates for the foreseeable future. Higher rates increase borrowing costs, pinching corporate profits.
Investors may want to shift out of momentum and into more defensive stocks -- companies that aren't as expensive and also pay healthy, stable dividends.
Continued worries about a slowdown in China's economy -- especially as trade tension with the United States has escalated -- were also dragging down the broader market.
• Some experts said this isn't a time to panic.
• The pullback -- particularly for tech stocks -- is needed, argued Joe Heider, president of Cirrus Wealth Management.
"The selloff is healthy," Heider said. "Since the market bottomed in March 2009, it's been more than 10 years of growth stocks leading the way non-stop."
• U.S. President Donald Trump has been briefed on Wednesday’s stock market sell-off, a senior White House official told CNBC, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 3 percent in one day and the S&P 500 marked its biggest daily decline since February.
“This is a bull market correction. It’s probably healthy. This will pass and the U.S. economy remains strong,” a White House official said, according to a statement read by CNBC.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday’s stock market selloff was in fact a long awaited “correction,” and that the Federal Reserve, which has been raising U.S. interest rates, has gone “crazy.”
• Asia markets fell sharply on Thursday morning, after U.S. stocks sank overnight as a steep decline in tech shares and worries of rapidly rising rates sent Wall Street on pace for its worst day in eight months.
The ASX 200 fell 1.9 percent as of 8:23 a.m. HK/SIN, with most sectors trading lower. The energy subindex was down 2.75 percent, materials was lower by 2.02 percent and the heavily weighted financial sector fell 1.78 percent.
Major banking names in the country fell, with Commonwealth Bank shares down 1.46 percent. Mining stocks were also lower, with Rio Tinto down 2.39 percent and BHP off by 2.85 percent.
• Japan's markets also declined steeply in the early hours of trading. The Nikkei 225 dropped by 3.25 percent while the Topix index declined by 3.19 percent, with major sectors trending down.
• Over in South Korea, the Kospi continued the general trend for the day by slipping 2.2 percent.
Reference: Reuters, CNN, CNBC