Stocks continued to slide in the final hours of the trading day as retail sales and manufacturing activity slowed while core inflation jumped, the Wall Street Journal reports. Oil slid $4.09 to $74.54 a barrel, its lowest price in 2008. The Dow closed down 733.08 at 8,577.91—the index's second-largest point drop ever. The Nasdaq shed 150.68, closing at 1,628.33, and the S&P 500 lost 90.17 to settle at 907.84.
Financials fell as the shine from the equity-injection plan began to fade: Citigroup closed off 12.84%. The broad losses in commodities had aluminum maker Alcoa down 13.16% while fears that oil will continue to fall on weak demand had Chevron and Exxon Mobil down 13.52% and 14.81%, respectively. (More Dow Jones stories.)