Nasdaq Closes Below 4,000 Amid Continued Weakness On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - After moving sharply lower over the course of the previous session, stocks saw some further downside during trading on Friday. Technology stocks helped to lead the way lower once again, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq closing below 4,000 for the first time since early February.

Biotechnology stocks once again saw substantial weakness, with the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index tumbling by 2.6 percent after plummeting by 5.6 percent on Thursday. With the drop, the index fell to a three-month closing low.

Pharmacyclics (PCYC) posted another particularly steep loss on the day, plunging by 7.7 percent to its worst closing level in over nine months.

Significant weakness was also visible among brokerage stocks, as reflected by the 2 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index. The index set a nearly five-month closing low amid notable losses by Piper Jaffray (PJC) and Investment Technology Group (ITG).

Airline stocks also saw considerable weakness, dragging the NYSE Arca Airline Index down by 1.9 percent. American Airlines (AAL) and SkyWest (SKYW) turned in two of the sector's worst performances.

Computer hardware, semiconductor, and gold stocks also came under pressure on the day, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.

The major averages closed firmly in negative territory, not far off their worst levels of the day. The Dow slid 143.47 points or 0.9 percent to 16,026.75, the Nasdaq dropped 54.37 points or 1.3 percent to 3,999.73 and the S&P 500 fell 17.39 points or 1 percent to 1,815.69.

For the week, the major averages all posted steep losses. The Nasdaq plunged by 3.1 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 tumbled by 2.4 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively.