Wall Street sell-off picks up steam, Dow loses 700 points and tumbles deeper into correction territory

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled on Friday and fell into correction territory, while Brent traded above $110 after incidents in the Strait of Hormuz exacerbated investors’ energy supply concerns and President Donald Trump’s latest comments failed to encourage traders to scoop up shares.

The 30-stock Dow was last down 730 points, or 1.6%. The S&P 500 lost 1.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.1%.

The broad market index was headed for its fifth straight weekly decline, dropping around 2% in the period. The tech-heavy Nasdaq has slid more than 3% week to date, while the blue-chip Dow has slid nearly 1% for the week.

Friday’s slip comes a day after the Nasdaq on Thursday fell into a correction, down more than 10% from a record set in October. The Dow also moved into correction territory Friday, currently down 10.2% from its recent high. The S&P 500 is more than 8% below its record.

International benchmark Brent crude futures rose 3% to above $112 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures gained 4% to above $99 a barrel.

President Donald Trump extended a deadline to attack Iran’s energy infrastructure to April 6, a little over a week after the original deadline that was set to end Friday.

“As per Iranian Government request, please let this statement serve to represent that I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”