The Dow Jones lost nearly 3% of its value today, tumbling 387.18 points to 13,270.68 in the second-worst drumming of the calendar year. Trading curbs were in place early, after BNP Paribas froze funds that took a bath in the US credit market and Chinese exchanges crashed overnight, but they couldn't prevent the hemorrhaging caused by liquidity fears and looming subprime woes.
The S&P sank 44.40 to 1,453.09 and the Nasdaq dropped 56.49 to end at 2,556.49. Citigroup, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs all helped erase the three-day rally in US indexes, as investors continue to wax skeptical of the credit market. "It looks hideous out there," bemoaned one equity strategist. A measure of stock market volatility hit a four-year high. (More housing market stories.)