For the week, the S&P 500 fell 2.6 percent and the Nasdaq lost 3.1 percent, the biggest weekly decline for both indexes since June 2012.

US stocks slid in a volatile session on Friday, with the Nasdaq closing below the 4,000 mark for the first time since early February. Selling accelerated late in the afternoon, with the biotech and other momentum stocks again leading the Nasdaq sharply lower. JPMorgan’s disappointing earnings also gave investors a reason to sell some bank stocks.

For the week, the S&P 500 fell 2.6 percent and the Nasdaq lost 3.1 percent, the biggest weekly decline for both indexes since June 2012. “Today’s decline is what we’ve been seeing all week. The weakness in the biotech and momentum names is getting investors worried about where the market is headed in the near-term, eventually triggering a selloff in everything,” said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Banyan Partners in New York.

“Our long-term outlook on the market hasn’t changed because if you understand why the market is selling off, you know it’s not rational, that it doesn’t make sense,” he added. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 143.47 points or 0.89 percent, to end at 16,026.75.

The S&P 500 lost 17.39 points or 0.95 percent, to finish at 1,815.69. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 54.372 points or 1.34 percent, to close at 3,999.734. The Nasdaq Composite fell through 4,000 for the first time since early February and many one-time market darlings are now down substantially from records reached only six or seven weeks ago.

JPMorgan Chase & Co shares fell 3.7 percent to close at USD 55.30. The stock was the biggest drag on the S&P 500 after the bank reported a far weaker-than-expected quarterly profit as revenue from securities trading fell. The S&P financial index dropped 1.2 percent. It was the S&P 500’s worst-performing sector. The Nasdaq biotech index fell 2.8 percent after rising as much as 1 percent earlier. The Global X social media index, which includes Facebook and LinkedIn, slid 2.3 percent.

Facebook shares fell 1.1 percent to USD 58.53. LinkedIn shares lost 2.5 percent to end at USD 165.78. In contrast to the day’s sharp downturn, shares of Wells Fargo & Co rose 0.8 percent to USD 48.08 after the biggest mortgage lender in the United States reported a 14 percent increase in first-quarter net profit.

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