Dow drops 600 points | What's behind the sell-off? | The GameStop mania explained

U.S. stocks fell sharply on Wednesday amid disappointing earnings, while concern about heightened speculative trading activity deepened.

VIEW IN BROWSER | SUBSCRIBE WED, JAN 27, 2021 EVENING BRIEF AS OF WED, JAN 27, 2021 • 04:38 ET DJIA 30303.17 -2.05% -633.87 S&P 500 3750.77 -2.57% -98.85 NASDAQ 13270.60 -2.61% -355.47   Most Active DOW NAME LAST CHG %CHG AAPL 142.06 -1.10 -0.77% MSFT 232.90 +0.57 +0.25% INTC 53.59 -1.62 -2.93% S&P 500 NAME LAST CHG %CHG AAL 16.56 +1.03 +6.63% GE 11.38 +0.09 +0.80% AAPL 142.06 -1.10 -0.77% NASDAQ NAME LAST CHG %CHG SIRI 6.87 +0.32 +4.89% AAPL 142.06 -1.10 -0.77% AMD 88.84 -5.87 -6.20%   EDITOR'S NOTE Stocks were slammed on Wednesday, as the S&P 500 dropped by 2.5% and the Nasdaq Composite fell by 2.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed more than 600 points. It was the worst sell-off in three months. The drop in the S&P 500 was bad enough to wipe out the index's gains for the year.   Boeing helped drag the Dow, falling by 4%. Investors sold big technology shares, not waiting for their earnings due after the bell.     However, the attention of Wall Street was once again focused on the busy trading activity in GameStop, which spread to other stocks like AMC Entertainment on Wednesday, as small investors ran over short sellers on Wall Street. Read our explanation of what exactly is going on with this GameStop mania here.   Read why this is garnering regulators' attention and worrying investors here.   Check the live quote of GameStop shares in extending trading here. The decline in stocks came even as the Federal Reserve signaled its willingness to continue bolstering the economy. The central bank decided to keep interest rates close to zero. It also said it would continue its asset purchasing program, wherein the Feds buys at least $120 billion in bonds each month.     Catch The News with Shepard Smith at 7 p.m. ET on CNBC. The nightly newscast provides deep, non-partisan coverage and perspective on the day's most important stories. Darla Mercado | CNBC Markets and Investing Editor @Darla_Mercado TOP NEWS  Dow drops more than 600 points for its worst day since October, S&P 500 goes red for the year GameStop jumps more than 130% even as hedge funds cover short bets, scrutiny of rally intensifies GameStop mania explained: How the Reddit retail trading crowd ran over Wall Street pros Massachusetts regulator says GameStop speculation is a danger to whole market as TD Ameritrade restricts trading AMC share price quadruples as retail traders raid hedge-fund short targets Chamath Palihapitiya closes GameStop position, but defends investors' right to sway stocks like pros Melvin Capital, hedge fund targeted by Reddit board, closes out of GameStop short position Biden suspends oil and gas leasing in slew of executive actions on climate change Federal Reserve leaves interest rates and asset purchases unchanged, sees growth slowing Democrats prepare to pass Covid relief bill without Republican votes   TOP VIDEO Watch CNBC's full interview with Chamath Palihapitiya on GameStop and Reddit-fueled surge   CNBC PRO Wells Fargo recommends buying these highly shorted stocks   SPECIAL REPORTS GameStop's surge has made its 3 largest shareholders billions overnight Robinhood CEO: Becoming an investor is the new American dream, just like home ownership was before   Unsubscribe Manage Newsletters Terms of Service Join the CNBC Panel Digital Products Feedback Privacy Policy   © 2021 CNBC LLC. All rights reserved. A property of NBCUniversal. 900 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes and Market Data and Analysis. Data also provided by THOMSON REUTERS