NEW YORK, New York – U.S. stock markets shattered on Thursday with all the major indices losing ground. The sizeable losses were mirrored around the world.

The main driver in the U.S. was the shock 26.4 percent fall in Facebook-parent Meta Platforms shares. Meta fell after the company’s quarterly earnings fell short of expectations. It was the biggest fall ever for the Facebook parent.

“Facebook is a confidence builder,” JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade told CNB Thursday. “It’s a super widely held stock and a core part of many portfolios, so when it has such a difficult time, it just shakes overall confidence. The question right now is, is this a Meta-specific issue, or is this going to be an overall issue?”

The Nasdaq Composite tumbled 538.73 points or 3.74 percent to 13,878.82, the key index’s worst one-day performance since September 2020.

The Dow Jones industrials dived 518.17 points or 1.45 percent to 35,111.16.

The Standard and Poor’s 500 shed 111.94 points or 2.44 percent to 4,477.44.

The U.S. dollar, already under pressure, was surprisingly sold off further. The euro jumped to 1.1434 by the New York close Thursday. The British pound strengthened to 1.3595. The Japanese yen weakened to 114.94. The Swiss franc eased to 0.9207.

The Canadian dollar was little changed at 1.2683. The Australian dollar was range-bound at 0.7134. The New Zealand dollar firmed to 0.6659.

In Europe, the German Dax fell 1.57 percent. The CAC 40 in Paris, France was down 1.54 percent. London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.71 percent.

Stocks in Asia were lower Thursday although in South Korea there was strong demand in the technology sector.

The Chinese and Hong Kong markets remained closed for the Chinese New Year holiday.

In Australia, the All Ordinaries fell 25.00 points or 0.34 percent to 7,374.60.

South Korea’s Kospi gained 64.83 points or 2.43 percent to 2,728.17.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 dived 292.29 points or 1.06 percent to 27,241.31.