The Dow Jones fell by more than 500 points, a drop of nearly 2pc, while the wider S&P 500 index fell for a fifth day straight, its worst run in nearly two years.
For stock investors, the recent spike in bond yields may be prompting some uncomfortable deja vu. Companies that have been the biggest winners on the market the last few years, including technology companies and retailers, suffered steep declines. The S&P 500 was off by 1.7 percent, putting it on pace for its first five-day losing streak in two years.
The Nasdaq fell 92 points, or 1.3 percent, to 7,329.06.
The Dow slid more than 500 points, or 2.1 percent, in afternoon trading on Thursday. Should the S&P close lower today, it will be the sixth consecutive time, something that hasn't happened since before Donald Trump's election.
Stocks from emerging markets were also hard hit. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading regional shares closed down 1.57 percent.
Investors may want to shift out of momentum and into more defensive stocks - companies that aren't as expensive and also pay healthy, stable dividends.
Shares in Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google's parent company Alphabet - the so-called "FAANG" stocks that have driven USA markets to all-time highs recently - all fell in NY trading.
Rising bond yields have been drawing investors out of the stock market, and the best-performing stocks over the past year took some of the biggest losses Wednesday.
United States government bonds resumed a selloff after rising to multi-year highs last week, with the 2-year yield rising to 2.906%, its highest level since June 2008.
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Some early relief over a tame report on United States inflation gave way to renewed selling.
Insurance companies dropped as Hurricane Michael continued to gather strength and came ashore in Florida bringing winds of up to 155 miles an hour.
The 10-year yield is now 3.20 percent, the highest in than seven years and up sharply form 2.82 percent in late August. Adams, of Bloomberg Intelligence, said investors have concerns about their future profitability, too.
Wall Street stocks has plunged with major indices losing more than three percent in a sell-off prompted by the sudden jump in USA interest rates.
The weakness in tech was led by semiconductor names after Swiss vacuum valve maker VAT Group said demand from chip equipment makers was softening. Amazon, Apple, Alphabet and Facebook all fell by between 2.3pc and 3.9pc.
At 11:22 a.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was down 123.08 points, or 0.79 per cent, at 15,392.22.
"People fear building prices into the system, both from China trade problems, other tariffs the USA has put into place, wage pressure, and today there is a little bit of concern about what the Hurricane in Florida could do to energy prices".
Some analysts have blamed rising interest rates for the selloff. Heating oil fell 1.2 per cent to $2.39 a gallon. Brazil's Bovespa lost 2.5 per cent and the Merval in Argentina sank 2.2 per cent.
The dollar slipped to 112.17 Japanese yen from 112.27 yen late Wednesday. The euro rose to $1.1525 from $1.1496.
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