The stock market posted its biggest drop since October Wednesday, led by declines in several Big Tech companies.
The S&P 500 gave up 2.6%. The benchmark index had set a record high just two days earlier.
The selling was broad, though technology giants including Facebook, Netflix and Google's parent company accounted for a big part of the pullback.
The stock of beleaguered video game seller GameStop more than doubled as an army of small investors ganged up against hedge funds that made huge bets that the stock would fall.
The Federal Reserve stressed its commitment to keep interest rates low.