Dow plunges 519 points on economy, Europe worries

Index slammed with third loss of 500+ points in last five trading days

By Stan Choe

Published August 10, 2011 9:17PM (EDT)

A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange before close on Monday, Aug. 8, 2011 in New York. The Dow Jones industrials closed down 634 points, or 5.5 percent, to 10,809 Monday. It was the first time the Dow fell below 11,000 since November and its biggest one-day point drop since December 2008. (AP Photo/Jin Lee) (AP)
A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange before close on Monday, Aug. 8, 2011 in New York. The Dow Jones industrials closed down 634 points, or 5.5 percent, to 10,809 Monday. It was the first time the Dow fell below 11,000 since November and its biggest one-day point drop since December 2008. (AP Photo/Jin Lee) (AP)

Stocks are falling at the close of trading as investors' attention returns to the weak economy and Europe's debt problems.

The Dow Jones industrial average is down 519, or 4.6 percent, to 10,720. It's the third time in the last five trading days that the Dow lost more than 500 points. The S&P 500 is down 51 points, or 4.4 percent, to 1,121. The Nasdaq is down 101, or 4.1 percent, to 2,381.

European bank stocks fell on worries that the region's debt problems are getting worse. That pulled down U.S. bank stocks. Financial stocks in the S&P 500 lost more than 7 percent.

The drop erases Tuesday's big gain following a Federal Reserve pledge to keep rates low. The Fed said it expects the recovery to remain slow.


By Stan Choe

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