NEW YORK, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) — U.S. stocks fell sharply on Friday as heavy selling continued on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 503.53 points, or 1.43 percent, to 34,738.06. The S&P 500 decreased 85.44 points, or 1.90 percent, to 4,418.64. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 394.49 points, or 2.78 percent, to 13,791.15.

Nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in red, with technology and consumer discretionary down 3.01 percent and 2.82 percent, respectively, leading the laggards. Energy and utilities rose 2.79 percent and 0.01 percent, respectively, the only two gaining groups.

Friday’s weakness followed a major setback on Wall Street, which saw the Dow tumble 526 points on Thursday, as hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation readings unnerved markets.

The U.S. consumer price index for January grew 7.5 percent year on year, the Labor Department reported on Thursday, higher than the 7.3-percent consensus of market forecasts, and the highest since 1982.

Investors feared that the red-hot inflation would prompt more aggressive policy moves from the Federal Reserve.

Meanwhile, investors were concerned about Russia-Ukraine tensions.

As uncertainty on the Russia-Ukraine border keeps growing, intensive diplomatic efforts are underway, aiming to resolve the tensions through peaceful settlement.