NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks sank on Wall Street as worries cranked higher about a cracking U.S. banking system. The S&P 500 fell 0.7% Thursday to add to its loss for the week so far.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 286 points and is now down for the year.
The Nasdaq composite also closed lower.
PacWest Bancorp’s stock halved as investors looked for the next weak link following several big U.S. bank failures since March. Shares of other smaller and mid-sized banks also fell sharply.
Helping to limit the market’s losses were several companies reporting better profits than expected.
