Investing.com -- U.S. stocks fell considerably, erasing all of their gains from the previous session, as billionaire Carl Icahn triggered a sell-off in Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and the Bank of Japan surprised investors by holding rates steady on Thursday, offsetting gains from a surge in Facebook and a flurry of merger activity.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 210.79 or 1.17% to 17,830.76, while the S&P 500 Composite index fell 19.34 or 0.92% to 2,075.81, on a rare off day for both indices. The Dow fell precipitously on Thursday afternoon, after the billionaire investor told CNBC that he "no longer has a position in Apple," while citing concerns related to the company's long-term growth prospects in China. On Wednesday, Apple lost nearly 6%, one day after posting its first quarterly revenue declines in 13 years. Apple, one of the world's largest companies, also lowered its forward gross margin outlook amid concerns stemming from weakening global iPhone demand. Icahn, who owned approximately 46 million shares in Apple after unloading a $700 million stake in the fourth quarter of 2015, reportedly earned a profit of $2 billion from his investment in the company.
On the S&P 500, all 10 sectors closed in the red as stocks in the Energy, Consumer Services and Technology industries lagged. In total, four sectors closed down by more than 1% on Thursday. The NASDAQ Composite index, meanwhile, lost 57.85 or 1.19% to 4,805.29. Since ending 2015 just above the 5,000 level, the NASDAQ has fallen roughly 4%.
The top performer on the Dow was General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), which lost 0.04 or 0.13% to 30.89. It came one day after GE's investors approved CEO Jeffrey Immelt's $32.9 million compensation package and supported the company's new 15-year term limit on members of its Board of Directors. The proposed changes are expected to cut GE's retiree benefit obligations by approximately $4.7 billion over the next three years, including more than $3 billion in 2016. The worst performer was Apple, which fell 2.89 or 2.95% to 94.93.
The biggest gainer on the NASDAQ was Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), which surged 7.97 or 7.32% to 116.86. At one point Thursday, Facebook soared to fresh all-time record highs at 120.68, as investors reacted to the social network's strong quarterly results from the first quarter. During the period, Facebook topped analysts' earnings and revenue forecasts, amid a 63% spike in ad revenue for the quarter. It came as Facebook's monthly user total reached 1.65 billion, while the average user increased their daily site usage to 50 minutes per day. The worst performer was Xilinx (NASDAQ:XLNX), which lost 4.08 or 8.61% to close at 43.28.
The top performer on the S&P 500 was St Jude Medical Inc (NYSE:STJ), which soared 15.86 or 25.60% to 116.86 after Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) announced plans to acquire the global medical device manufacturer for $25 billion. The merger is expected to create one of the world's largest medical device companies, expanding St. Jude Medical's footprint with in high-growth cardiovascular markets. Also on Thursday, Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) announced plans to acquire Dreamworks Animation SKG Inc. for $3.8 billion. The worst performer was Harman International Industries (NYSE:HAR), which plunged 11.84 or 13.32% to 77.06, after the car analytics company reported weaker than expected third quarter earnings.
On the New York Stock Exchange, declining issues outnumbered advancing ones by a 1,992-1,050 margin.