(Reuters) – Stocks tumbled more than 4 percent on Thursday after data pointed to a stalled economyand as bank shares sank on a report regulators were scrutinizing the U.S. units of big European lenders.
The decline was broad as well as steep, with just a small handful of the S&P 500’s components in positive territory.
The KBW bank index slid 5.5 percent, with Citigroup Inc off 9.6 percent at $27, and Morgan Stanley down 7.5 percent at $15.75.
“The market is in meltdown mode,” said Sal Catrini, managing director for equities at Cantor Fitzgerald & Co in New York. “The data continues to stink. We continue to be in a soft patch.”
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 479.53 points, or 4.20 percent, at 10,930.68. The Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 52.77 points, or 4.42 percent, at 1,141.12. The Nasdaq Composite lost 120.57 points, or 4.80 percent, at 2,390.91.
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