The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 764.13 points, or 2.25%, to 33,202.22 — in its worst day since September as hopes for a year-end rally diminished. The S&P 500 dropped 2.49% to 3,895.75, bringing its decline for December to about 4.5%. The Nasdaq Composite tumbled 3.23% to 10,810.53 as the battered tech-heavy index stretched its 2022 losses to nearly 31%.

The sell-off was broad-based with only 14 stocks in the S&P 500 trading in positive territory. Mega-cap tech stocks declined, with shares of Apple and Alphabet down more than 4%, while Amazon and Microsoft were lower by more than 3%. Shares of Netflix fell 8.6% following a Digiday report that said the streaming firm is offering to return money to advertisers after missing viewership targets.

The disappointing retail sales report suggested inflation is taking a toll on consumers. Retail sales fell 0.6% in November, according to the Commerce Department. That was a bigger loss than the Dow Jones estimate of a 0.3% decline.

The selling began Wednesday in the wake of the Fed's latest boost in its overnight borrowing rate. The central bank also said it will continue hiking rates through 2023 and projected its fed funds rate to peak at a higher-than-expected 5.1%. With Wednesday's half a percentage point hike, the targeted range for rates is currently 4.25% to 4.5%, the highest in 15 years.

"The equity market's reaction is now factoring in a recession, and rejecting the possibility of the 'soft/softish' landing mentioned recently by Powell at the [Brookings Institution]," Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial, wrote Thursday.