Stocks plunge, Dow sees sharpest drop since 2008
Stocks tanked on Thursday, with the Dow losing 513 points, the Nasdaq falling 137 points, and the S&P closing 60 points lower. Twenty stocks fell for every one that rose.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2011 in New York. Stocks had their worst day on Thursday since October 2008, with the Down losing more than 500 points.
Jin Lee / AP
NEW YORK
The stock market is finishing its worst day since the financial crisis.
The Dow Jones industrial average plunged more than 500 points Thursday. Investors are concerned that the U.S. economy will enter another recession and that Europe's debt problems are not closed to being solved.
Major stock indexes fell more than 4 percent.
The Dow is closing with a loss of 513 points, or 4.3 percent, to 11,384. It was the worst day for the Dow since October 22, 2008.
The S&P 500 is down 60, or 4.8 percent, to 1,200. The Nasdaq is down 137, or 5.1 percent, to 2,556.
Twenty stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was very heavy at 7.5 billion shares.