A trader works at New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, the United States, on March 5, 2020. U.S. stocks plunged in choppy trading on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 969.58 points, or 3.58 percent, to 26,121.28. The S&P 500 fell 106.18 points, or 3.39 percent, to 3,023.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index erased 279.49 points, or 3.10 percent, to 8,738.60. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)

U.S. stocks plunged in choppy trading on Thursday as fears of slower economic growth rattled investors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 969.58 points, or 3.58 percent, to 26,121.28. The S&P 500 fell 106.18 points, or 3.39 percent, to 3,023.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index erased 279.49 points, or 3.10 percent, to 8,738.60.

Shares of United Technologies slid 9 percent and Boeing sank 8 percent, leading the laggards in the Dow.

All the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended lower, with industrials and financials down 4.96 percent and 4.88 percent, respectively, the two worst-performing groups.

The market wiped out most of the gains scored on Wednesday when the 30-stock ended up 1,173 points.

U.S. equities have been in roller-coaster trading this week as market volatility remains high. On Tuesday, the Dow slumped more than 780 points despite the Federal Reserve's emergency interest-rate cut, following a nearly 1,300 points gain in the prior session.

On the data front, U.S. initial jobless claims, a rough way to measure layoffs, stood at 216,000 in the week ending Feb. 29, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week's unrevised level, the Department of Labor reported on Thursday.