Stocks tumbled Friday, reversing gains that had followed the Federal Reserve's move to maintain its monetary stimulus earlier in the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 185.46 points, or 1.2%, to 15451.09, its biggest daily slide since Aug. 15.
The S&P 500-stock index dropped 12.43 points, or 0.7%, to 1709.91, retreating from Wednesday's record of 1725.52. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 14.66 points, or 0.4%, to 3774.73.
"It's a bit of a buyers' strike with very targeted selling," said Joe Spinelli, head of North America cash equity trading at Deutsche Bank. "The areas that I'm seeing selling were the areas that were the best bid when the Fed announced that they weren't going to taper."
A surprise move Wednesday by the U.S. central bank to leave its stimulus program fully intact had sparked surges in stock and bond prices. Since late May, investors have been preparing for the eventual scaling back of monetary-policy measures that have buoyed the price of bonds as well as stocks. But the midweek jolt faded quickly.
Meanwhile, stock-market bears point to sluggish economic growth and a harder search for undervalued companies following the S&P 500's 20% gain in 2013. Meanwhile, a potentially nasty U.S. budget debate is just starting, and the Fed's playbook for weaning the market off its easy monetary policy remains uncertain.
Traders on New York Stock Exchange floor Friday. Blue chips managed to eke out a 0.5% gain for the week.