Stocks took a turn for the worse at the start of trading on Friday, as investors virtually ignored an upbeat reading on U.S. retail sales in January and instead focused on China's move to raise reserve requirements at its banks in an attempt to put the brakes on growth there.
At the start of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 134 points or 1.3 per cent, to 10,010. The broader S&P 500 fell 14 points or 1.3 per cent, to 1065.
All 30 components within the Dow were underwater, signalling a broad selloff in the stock market. Bank of America Corp. fell 1.6 per cent, General Electric Co. fell 2.2 per cent, Caterpillar Inc. fell 2.5 per cent and Alcoa Inc. fell 2.4 per cent.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which joined the S&P 500 after a 50 for 1 share split in January, rose 0.3 per cent.
In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index fell 76 points or 0.7 per cent, to 11,360.
The index was hobbled by commodity producers that fell with declining prices for crude oil and gold. Oil fell to $73.29 (U.S.) a barrel, down nearly $2. Suncor Energy Inc. fell 1.4 per cent Gold fell to $1080 an ounce, down $15. Barrick Gold Corp. fell 1.7 per cent.
Meanwhile, BCE Inc. fell 1.1 per cent but Research In Motion Ltd. rose 1.4 per cent. Shaw Communications Inc. fell 1.8 per cent after an announcement that it had bought controlling stake in CanWest Global Communications Corp.
In Europe, major indexes fell back into the red in afternoon trading, after moving slightly higher earlier in the day. This time, the concerns have turned to lacklustre economic growth in the region, which has raised concerns that the econonic recovery there is already sputtering. The combined gross domestic product for 16 countries in the euro zone rose a mere 0.1 per cent in the fourth quarter, worse than expected. On a year-over-year basis, economic activity was down 2.1 per cent.