Nasdaq falls around 3% as US stocks losses deepen

The Nasdaq fell three percent on Monday afternoon, weighed down by Apple, Facebook and other tech giants in a sell-off that also extended to industrials amid trade war worries.

Near 1900 GMT, the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was 2.9 percent at 7,041.65, after earlier dropping more than three percent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.8 percent to 24,959.45, while the broad-based S&P 500 shed 1.7 percent to 2,688.79.

Shares of Apple fell 3.5 percent following a Wall Street Journal report on production cuts of its new iPhone models, while Facebook plummeted 5.4 percent amid negative fallout over its handling of consumer data and various other controversies that have generated scrutiny.

Other large technology companies also stumbled including Amazon, Google parent Alphabet and Microsoft. All were off three percent or more, adding to the pullback in tech. The Nasdaq has dropped more than 13 percent since late August.

"The move is explained by tech stocks in general and worries over semiconductors after a sell-off on Friday," said Sam Stovall of CFRA Research.

"It seems that there is a reevaluation of high-flying growth stocks in general."

Multinational companies also fell hard following a standoff at the weekend's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that revived worries about the US-China trade rift.

The meeting ended for the first time in APEC history without a group communique.

Boeing dived 5.1 percent and Caterpillar and Deere & Co both fell almost three percent.