NEW YORK, New York - Major falls in Amazon and Microsoft undermined U.S. stocks on Thursday.

The technology sector took the brunt of the selling as investors continued to fret over inflation. A day after the CPI hit an annualized 7 percent, the December producer price index was revealed to have risen 0.20 percent month over month.

"We do not think the returns from many financial assets will be as good in 2022 as they were in 2021," John Higgins, chief markets economist at Capital Economics told Reuters news agency Thursday.

"For a start, we envisage a sell-off in government bonds in most places, reflecting the outlook for monetary policy. And, in general, we foresee an underwhelming performance from equities, including in the United States and China."

The Nasdaq Composite was the worst-hit index, shedding 381.58 points or 2.51 percent to 14,806.81.

The Standard and Poor's 500 slumped 67.32 points or 1.42 percent to 4,659.03.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average reversed a 200-points gain to end 176.70 points or 0.49 percent lower at 36,113.62.

The U.S. dollar was little changed Thursday, sellers however held sway. The euro held on to recent gains to last trade Thursday in New York at 1.1454. The British pound was steady at 1.3708. The Japanese yen edged up to 114.15. The Swiss franc was well bid at 0.9112.

The Canadian dollar fell a few basis points to 1.2516. The Australian dollar was slightly softer at 0.7280. The New Zealand dollar dipped to 0.6865.

Overseas, the FTSE 100 in London climbed 0.16 percent. The Dax in Germany added 0.13 percent. In Paris, the CAC 40 slid 0.50 percent.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo shed 276.53 points or 0.96 percent to 29,489.33.

China's Shanghai Composite fell 42.17 points or 1.17 percent to 3,555.26.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng reversed earlier losses to close 27.60 points or 0.11 percent higher at 24,429.77.

The Australian All Ordinaries, going against the trend, advanced 35.30 points or 0.45 percent to 7,797.50. This despite Australia's most populated state, New South Wales, recording a record 92,264 Covid-19 cases in the prior 24 hours.