It was a rough start to October for financial markets Wednesday, with the Dow Jones industrial average dropping more than 200 points as investors reacted to a round of negative economic news in the U.S. and abroad.
At first stocks were driven lower by word that German manufacturing had slowed last month. The selling accelerated after a separate survey indicated U.S. manufacturing slowed as well.
On Wednesday:
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 238.19 points, or 1.4 percent, to 16,804.71.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 26.13 points, or 1.3 percent, to 1,946.16.
The Nasdaq composite dropped 71.30 points, or 1.6 percent, to 4,422.09.
For the week:
The Dow is down 308.44 points, or 1.8 percent.
The S&P 500 is down 36.69 points, or 1.9 percent.
The Nasdaq is down 90.11 points, or 2 percent.
For the year:
The Dow is up 228.05 points, or 1.4 percent.
The S&P 500 index is up 97.80 points, or 5.3 percent.
The Nasdaq is up 245.50 points, or 5.9 percent.
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