The S&P 500 posted 17 new 52-week highs and 4 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 30 new highs and 59 new lows.
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Tech shares dropped 0.8 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average gave up 100 points, or 0.6 percent, to 17,632.
The Nasdaq Composite was down 37.55 points, or 0.78 per cent, at 4,797.39. The gauge has lost more than 10 percent during the skid.
Stocks were also lower across the board in Europe, with the broad Stoxx Europe 600 index off 1%. Volume on American exchanges averaged 7.5 billion shares, the most since March.
US housing starts in May fell to a less-than-expected 1.16 million in May while analysts had expected 1.15 million.
On the USA economic front, the Commerce Department released a report this morning showing a modest drop in new residential construction in the month of May. “The uncertainty around Brexit is also probably adding to the volatility in the past week and people are positioning for that”. The S&P 500 came within points of erasing its 2016 advance on Thursday before rallying, then slipped again in the week’s final session.
A selloff that erased $2.4 trillion from global equities in the past week continued as central bank policy reviews fuelled anxiety before the United Kingdom vote on a Brexit. USA stock markets could see heavy trading and increased volatility as investors position for next week’s referendum.
The Labor Department said Thursday U.S. consumer prices rose in May for the third straight month, a sign that inflation may be firming. Campaigning for the Brexit referendum was suspended by both sides after Labour Party lawmaker Jo Cox was murdered as she met constituents in her district.
Recent polls have shown that most British voters prefer to leave the European Union, which is commonly referred to as the Brexit. “U.S. companies have spent over US$600bil (RM2.46 trillion) over time to make the United Kingdom their home and now they don’t know what will happen to their investment”, said Andre Bakhos, managing director at Janlyn Capital LLC in Bernardsville, New Jersey.
Energy shares were the lone declining sector yesterday, falling 0.2%, as oil slumped to one-month lows. While Fed officials still forecast two 25 basis-point rate hikes this year, traders have cut back their bets on a Fed rate increase, pricing in only a 2 percent chance of a July boost and less 40 percent odds of one as late as February 2017.
“There’s been some fear and anxiety in the market over the last couple weeks”, said John Carey, a Boston-based fund manager at Pioneer Investment Management Inc., which oversees about $230 billion. “We’ll see a choppy environment as we head toward the referendum”.
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