U.S. stocks sunk to their biggest loss in a month and a half Thursday as banks and technology companies tumbled. Interest rates moved lower, hurting financial stocks. 
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 174.09 points, or 1 per cent, to 17,541.96. 
The Standard & Poor's 500 index tumbled 24.75 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 2,041.91. 
The Nasdaq composite index skidded 72.35 points, or 1.5 per cent, to 4,848.37.