Stocks sold off sharply in the US on Thursday after Switzerland and the UK joined a global rush to lift interest rates, stoking concerns that central banks’ attempts to tame high inflation could push economies across the globe into a downturn.

The S&P 500 stock index slid 3.2 per cent for the day, a move that took the broad gauge to a 6 per cent fall so far this week. The declines have battered valuations in recent days as pessimism about the global economic outlook has spread, with many investors warning more restrictive monetary policies from central banks could stamp out the recovery.

In a sign of the darkening outlook, almost every stock in the S&P 500 declined on Thursday, with losses pushing the share prices of hundreds of companies down to new 52-week lows. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite index tumbled 4.1 per cent.