Stocks fell sharply on Friday after weaker-than-expected data in China and Europe exacerbated concerns of a global economic slowdown.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 496.87 points to 24,100.51, its lowest level since early May, led lower by declines in Apple and Johnson & Johnson. For the year, the Dow is now down 2.5 percent.

The dropped 1.9 percent to 2,599.95 — its lowest closing level since April — as the tech and health care sectors lagged. The broad index also closed down 2.75 percent for 2018.

The Nasdaq Composite pulled back 2.26 percent to 6,910.66. For the year, the tech-heavy index is now up just 0.11 percent. Friday's losses also wiped out the gains for the week across the major indexes.

Friday also marked the first time since March 2016 that all major indexes closed in a correction, down at least 10 percent from their 52-week highs.

China reported industrial output and retail sales growth numbers for November that missed expectations. This is the latest sign shown by China that its economy may be slowing down. The data also underscored the rising risks to China's economy as Beijing works to resolve an ongoing trade war with the U.S.

"The economic data continues to bear out growth is slowing," said Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager at Globalt. "There is still a lot of positive positioning out there. As the data continues to slow, people are feeling less comfortable with that and start to sell."

"Where we are is trying to measure how uncomfortable people are with their positioning," Martin said. "There just hasn't been any follow-through in any rally we've seen in the past few weeks. That's very telling of the market."