01:47 PM EDT, 07/19/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes fell after midday Friday as a continuing downdraft in technology proved to be a drag amid a global IT outage.

The Nasdaq Composite declined 0.9% to 17,710.2, with the S&P 500 down 0.7% to 5,504.9 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 1.1% lower at 40,229.3. All sectors except healthcare were down intraday.

Technology was not only the worst performer intraday but is also setting up to be the laggard for this week and the month. Of the 13 companies with a market capitalization of more than $200 billion in the technology sector, 10 are headed lower this week, with SAP (SAP), Oracle (ORCL), and Accenture (ACN) being the exceptions. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 are set for a decline this week while the Dow is heading higher, signaling a possible end to the narrow market leadership.

Traders are moving away from "expensive mega-cap technology stocks while assessing the impact of a global tech outage that affected businesses across sectors," according to a research note from D.A. Davidson.

Technology systems globally faced disruptions on Friday following a CrowdStrike ( CRWD ) system update for Microsoft ( MSFT ) Windows hosts, impacting industries from airlines to broadcasters in what analysts say may be the biggest-ever outage in the information technology sector.

CrowdStrike ( CRWD ) said it was "actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for" Windows hosts. The company added that it has isolated the issue while "a fix has been deployed" and that the incident was not a cyberattack.

"This is being billed as the largest overall IT outage in history," Scotiabank said in a note. Shares of CrowdStrike ( CRWD ) slumped 12% intraday, the steepest decliner on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.

In economic news, the unemployment rate rose in eight states in June, fell in one, and held steady elsewhere, state-level data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed Friday.

In company news, Intuitive Surgical ( ISRG ) jumped more than 8% intraday, the top performer on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, after the robotic surgical system maker's Q2 results beat market estimates.

The US 10-year Treasury yield jumped 4.2 basis points to 4.23%, and the two-year rate climbed 4.6 basis points to 4.51%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil slumped 2.5% to $80.74 a barrel.

The drop comes as concerns over Chinese demand continue after the No.1 oil importer's ruling Communist Party ended a Third Plenum without the solutions to the country's economic malaise, with growth slowing and its real-estate sector mired in a debt crisis.

Gold sank 2.3% to $2,400.81 an ounce, and silver slid 3% to $29.31.