US Stocks Close Lower Amid Tech Selloff, High Volatility

US stocks closed lower Thursday with a selloff in technology companies' stocks and high volatility.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 176 points, or 0.49%, to 36,113. The S&P 500 fell 67 points, or 1.42%, to 4,659.

The Nasdaq plummeted 381 points, or 2.5%, to 14,806 as AMC Entertainment and Tesla saw their stock prices lose 9.1% and 6.7%, respectively.

While Microsoft shares fell more than 4%, Twitter and Netflix also lost more than 3% each.

US producer prices jumped 9.7% year-on-year in December 2021, its highest level on record, according to figures released by the Labor Department.

They followed consumer prices soaring 7% year-on-year in December, the greatest annual leap since June 1982, the Labor Department said Wednesday.

The VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, jumped 14.8% to 20.23.

The dollar index was down 0.05% to 94.87, while the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes dove 1.7% to 1.695%.

Despite earlier gains, precious metals were on the decline, with gold losing 0.2% to $1,822 per ounce and silver slipping 0.3% to $23.08.

Crude oil prices retreated around 1%, with Brent crude trading at $83.88 per barrel and the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate at $81.53.

Bitcoin was down 2.4% to $42,780, while other cryptocurrencies fell as much as 6%.

The crypto market's total value was around $2.03 trillion, with a 2.6% daily loss, according to data by digital asset price-tracking website CoinMarketCap. -