Stocks tumble on global worries

NEW YORK - Stocks plunged across all sectors in the heaviest trading of the year Friday as enthusiasm over a long-awaited increase in U.S. interest rates faded.

Several other negative factors combined to give the market its second big loss in a row, bringing the indexes lower for the week.

Bank stocks, which investors had bid up in hopes they would become more profitable as loan rates climbed, fell the most. Technology shares suffered more declines as a bad December got worse for Apple. The world's most valuable publicly traded company sank again, bringing its monthly loss to 10 percent.

Overseas, Japan's market fell after that country's central bank made changes to a stimulus program that fell short of what investors were hoping for. Another drop in energy prices sent oil stocks lower again, and worries about weak global growth weighed on shipping and other transportation companies.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 367.29 points, or 2.1 percent, to 17,128.55. The S&P 500 index fell 36.34 points, or 1.8 percent, to 2,005.55. The Nasdaq composite sank 79.47 points, or 1.6 percent, to 4,923.08. All 10 Standard & Poor's 500 sectors fell.

U.S. stock trading was even more volatile than usual Friday because of the simultaneous expiration of several kinds of futures and other contracts that investors use to place bets on indexes and individual stocks. As a result Friday was the busiest trading day of the year for stocks.

The market ended a tumultuous week slightly lower. Stocks had rallied over the first three days and jumped Wednesday after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time in almost a decade. The move was a vote of confidence in the U.S. economy. But over the next two days stocks were hit by some of the worries that have dogged them all year, like weakness in the Chinese economy, slowing global growth, and skidding prices for energy and metals.

While the Bank of Japan plans to spend a bit more on exchange-traded funds for companies that increase hiring and investment, investors were hoping for more, according to Ryan Larson, head of U.S. equity trading for RBC Global Asset Management.

"They were looking for more, and when the market's disappointed, this is what you get," he said.