The Down Jones index dropped by over 450 points due to a significant sell-off on foreign markets, AP reported. The S&P index lost 390 points, dropping to 24,640, which is 1.6% lower than yesterday, while NASDAQ sank by 99 points, to 7,062 — a drop of 1.4%. The Russell 2000 index, representing the performance of small-companies, also lost 1.7%, or 25 points, dropping to 1,455.
Boeing and the machinery producer Caterpillar Inc. suffered heavy losses on 6 December. Facebook shares fell 2.5% in value, decreasing the company's value by $9.5 billion. The fall in the stock prices of social media companies was preceded by the publication of Facebook's internal documents, which contained controversial information about the company providing some firms expanded access to user data, while banning others completely.
READ MORE: REVEALED: Docs Show Facebook Favoured Certain Companies, Banned Competitors
The major drop in the value of shares came amid a recent scandal involving Huawei's CFO, Wanzhou Meng, which threatens to spoil recent attempts made by the US and China to end their longstanding trade war. Beijing urged Ottawa to immediately release Huawei's top manager, calling her arrest a violation of human rights.
READ MORE: Beijing Urges Canada to Release Huawei Executive Arrested at US Request
Another possible reason for the market fall is the continuing downward trend in oil prices, despite a recent OPEC meeting devoted to keeping prices at earlier levels. US crude fell by 2.9% in price to $51.38 per barrel, while Brent fell to $60.08 a barrel, losing almost $1.5.