Nasdaq Leads Stock Rout As Investor Fear Spikes

Stock indexes were sharply lower as sentiment gauges reflected investor fear, and key stocks such as Facebook (FB) and Amazon.com (AMZN) slid.

XAutoplay: On | OffThe Nasdaq composite fell 1.5%, piercing its 50-day moving average and sinking to a one-month low. Some of its largest components were under pressure as technology stocks saw larger losses than most other sectors.

Facebook fell 1.7% and has erased gains from the sharp gap-up on July 27. Amazon.com slid 2% to the lowest level since early July, and sank deeper below the 50-day moving average.

Apple (AAPL) has wiped away modest gains it had made when it gapped out of a base Aug. 2 following its earnings report. Apple shares are back below the 156.75 buy point. Microsoft (MSFT) is testing support at the 50-day line and is about 1% below a 72.99 buy point from last month's breakout.

The S&P 500 lost 1% and the Dow Jones industrial average 0.6%. Small caps, which have lagged, were among the hardest hit. The Russell 2000 was off 1.3%. The Dow utilities average was up 0.3% as investors sought havens. Gold prices climbed 0.7%, adding to this week's rally. Treasury yields, though, were little changed.

Volume was higher compared with the same time Wednesday.

The CBOE Market Volatility index, or VIX for short, shot up to the highest level since May 18. The index is considered a measure of investor fear, spiking as the market comes to expect higher volatility.

It had been at unusually low levels while the indexes saw much smaller price movements this year than normal. VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Medium-Term (ZIV), an ETN that had been coasting higher on the low volatility, slid 2.5% in the highest comparative volume.

The put-call volume ratio spiked to 1.10, indicating that investors were making bearish bets much more than usual.

Two leading Chinese stocks sharply lower in heavy volume despite that both beat profit expectations.

China-based video game company NetEase (NTES) slid 9% as it undercut its 50-day moving average and a base it had been forming. YY Inc. (YY) was down nearly 1% in a volatile day of trading that saw the stock leap to a new high early on.

YY Earnings Top Estimates But Shares Dip In Early Trades

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