US Indices See Week's Gains Wiped Out

Wall Street has closed firmly lower, wiping out the gains for the week on all three major indices as investors grew nervous about prospects for the global economy.

The Dow Jones fell 1.8 percent, or 460 points to 25,502. The S&P 500 lost 1.9 percent to 2,800, while the Nasdaq sank 2.5 percent to 7,642.

The so-called yield curve, which tracks the spread between short- and long-term rates on US Treasury bonds, briefly inverted on Friday, with yields on three month bonds falling below those for 10-year notes - the first time this had happened since before the global financial crisis in 2007.

Following the close, 10-year yields were higher at 2.436 percent, back above three-month US Treasuries, which were at 2.442 percent.

The yield curve is closely watched since it has inverted prior to all recessions in recent decades.

But Justin Lederer, interest rates strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald, said the flip was not cause for so much alarm.

"The yield curve inversion reveals more what is going on in the global landscape, the fact that global growth is slowing down," he said. "I don't think it is an immediate signal that a recession is approaching."

Also weighing on the Dow were poor showings for Boeing and Nike.

An Indonesian air carrier on Friday became the first to announce it was cancelling a multi-billion-dollar order of 737 MAX aircraft in the wake of recent fatal crashes in which nearly 350 people perished.

Boeing fell 2.8 percent, extending decline since the March 10 crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302.

Nike sank 6.6 percent, a day after posting disappointing sales in North America. (AFP)