The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index had dropped 3% at 6,330.54, around 2030 GMT.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.8% to 22,457.71, while the broad-based S&P 500 shed 2.1% to 2,416.81.

The declines put Wall Street on track for a third straight rout. US stocks plunged Wednesday following the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike and Thursday due to a US budget dispute that could result in a shutdown.

Navarro, in an interview with Nikkei, spoke sceptically of trade talks with China.

“China is basically trying to steal the future of Japan, the US and Europe, by going after our technology,” Navarro, a longtime China hawk, told the Japanese news agency in an interview conducted Thursday but published Friday.

And he said China must address all US concerns about its trade policies, saying there are “no half-measures.”

The interview came as President Donald Trump dug in Friday on threats for a partial government shutdown over funding to build a wall on the Mexican border.

Thousands of US government employees could be furloughed right before the end-of-year holidays without a paycheck if Trump and congressional Democrats fail to strike a deal.

Investors have also been anxious over the surprise resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who laid out significant policy disagreements with the US president in his letter to Trump.

“We are in a fragile environment,” said Gregori Volokhine of Meeschaert Financial Services.

“The extremist position is winning in the Trump administration, not just on trade but on everything.”