US stocks plunge on recession jitters

Updated at: 2250 PST, Wednesday, October 22, 2008
NEW YORK: US stocks dived Wednesday on growing global recession fears and persistent strain in the credit markets despite massive government efforts to get credit flowing again.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 176.42 points (1.95 percent) to 8,857.24 at the opening bell and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite slid 25.44 points (1.50 percent) to 1,671.24.

The broad Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 14.80 points (1.55 percent) to 940.25. US stocks tumbled Tuesday on economic worries. The Dow plunged 2.50 percent, the Nasdaq a hefty 4.14 percent and the S&P 500 shed 3.08 percent.