Stocks tumbled yesterday as Wall Street realised the Asian economic crisis was not over, and will likely sideswipe the earnings of many US multinational companies for a second straight quarter.
The Dow Jones industrial average shed 207.01 points, or 2.3 percent, to close at 8,627.93.
It was the fifth worst point loss ever for the Dow.
In the broad market, declining issues beat advances by a more than 3-to-1 margin on active volume of 586 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange.
The Nasdaq composite index fell 29.30 points, or 1.6 per cent, to 1,715.75.
"It's difficult for the market to find a bottom with meltdown in Asia," said Mr Dan Ascani, president of Global Market Strategists. The session got off to a weak start after Dow component Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing warned that weakness in Asia and Japan and the strong dollar would pull its second-quarter profits below expectations.
