The blue chip index sank below 10,000 amid deepening worries about the financial turning point. Markets in Europe and Asia also tumbled

by Will Andrews and Karyn McCormack

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U.S. stocks finished sharply lower Monday, but a glance at the closing numbers doesn’cheek by jowl even set upon foot to tell the story of yet one more nerve-wracking day on Wall Street.

At one point during the session, the big three U.S. indexes instructed losses of 8% or greater — an ugly re-echo of the Sept. 29 market rout, which resulted in the greatest one-day percentage losses for market benchmarks since 1987. The Dow fell as abundant similar to 800 points during the session, driving it below 10,000 for the at the outset time since October, 2004, before the late-session upswing. But in the last hour of trading, buyers jumped in — accompanied by a notable increase in trading volume — trimming the market’session outsized losses virtually in half.

Still, the closing numbers were ugly, and served during the time that a reminder of the excruciating flightiness investors have had to endure in recent weeks amid investor worries about the health of the financial system and confide in markets — and the resurrection likelihood of a U.S. recession.

Call Monday’s action in U.S. markets a half-meltdown.

On Monday, the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial medial sum fell 369.88 points, or 3.58%, to 9,955.50. The broader S&P 500 index shed 42.34 points, or 3.85%, to 1,056.89. The tech-heavy Nasdaq complex index tumbled 84.43 points, or 4.34%, to 1,862.96.

Monday’s rout brings the Dow’session loss for the year to all but 25%. The S&P 500 is now the floor 28%, while the Nasdaq has lost nearly 30% this year.

One-day chart of DOW

The U.S. VIX equity volatility index, the stock market’s favored “fear gauge,” hit a fresh period high of 58.24 earlier before retreating back to 52.05.

U.S. equity markets joined a worldwide sell-off fueled by dint of. fears that policy makers may not be practical to spiritual charge the ailing global economy anytime soon. “We’re really in an emotional sell-off state,” says Alex Paris, president of Barrington Research, an economic and investing. research sturdy in Chicago. “It’s hard to identify the bottom, but we’re in the bottoming action.”

Market watchers are worried that the U.S. government’sitting financial rescue plans won’t stop the economy from falling into a recession. “I was hoping it won’t stop us from having negative GDP growth, but it’sitting not enough to keep [the economy] from turning into a real downturn,” Paris says.

However, Paris believes the economy is in the maturing stages of a downturn, as the protection and auto industries have struggled for the last three years, rather than the beginning of one. Usually, the dolt market moves higher before the established order recovers. And with stocks now at a “throw-away stage” — he says he’s planning to slowly invest in high-quality public securities taste General Electric (GE), which is mercantile at uncorrupt 10 times estimated earnings.

Bonds moved higher Monday as the Fed moved to add liquidity to the financial system. The 10-year note rallied 34/32 to 104-14/32 according to a yield of 3.46%, while the 30-year union soared 57/32 to 108-01/32 for a let go of 3.98%. No major U.S. economic reports were scheduled for Monday.

The U.S. dollar index rallied adhering speculation the European and U.K. central banks will cut interest rates. Gold futures were higher in a volley to safety.

Crude oil futures skidded below $90 per barrel on prospects of fall demand, ending down $6.32 to $87.56 a barrel, an eight-month low.