Equity markets around the world fell sharply Friday as redemptions forced hedge funds to unwind their positions and bellwethers like electronics giant Sony and European automakers Renault and Peugeot-Citroen.

In late-morning trading in the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 382 points, or 4.4 percent, to 8,309 and the Nasdaq skidded 4.6 percent to 1,530.

Technology shares held up relatively well, with the Morgan Stanley High-Technology Index losing 3.7 percent to 335.8. Recession fears drove enterprise software companies lower with Oracle shedding 6.4 percent to $15.85 and SAP skidding 8.8 percent to $31.96. Yahoo continued its losing streak, dropping 7 percent to $11.77, while IBM fell 4.5 percent to $80.52 and Google declined 3.7 percent to $339.38.

In a research note, Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab, said that a flood of redemption requests and margin calls is forcing hedge funds to dump assets, “sparking a fire sale on all sorts of investments.”

That trend, compounded with weak earnings and recession fears, is exerting pressure on global markets, she said.

In Europe, automakers led the markets lower. The UK’s FTSE 100 tumbled 6.9 percent to 3,805. The German DAX skidded 7.2 percent to 4,194 and the French CAC 40 slumped 5.9 percent to 3,116.

Peugeot shares lost 5.3 percent after the French automaker warned of a bleak earnings outlook. French rival Renault dropped 13.8 percent, while German carmaker Volkswagen dipped 7.4 percent.

Mobile handset makers also lost ground, with Alcatel-Lucent skidding 12.8 percent and Finland’s Nokia sliding 4 percent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 plummeted 9.6 percent to 7,649 after a profit warning by electronics giant Sony, whose shares fell 14 percent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index also tumbled, losing 8.3 percent to 1,142. Singapore’s Straits Times index followed suit, falling 8.3 percent to 1,600.