Another plunge in the price of crude oil sent stocks sharply lower today.
Energy companies led the way down today. Chevron fell 6 per cent, the most in the Dow Jones industrial average.
The price of US crude oil sank 7 per cent and is trading at its lowest level since May 2003.
The Dow was down 422 points, or 2.6 per cent, to 15,590 as of 11:45 am local time.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 52 points, or 2.8 per cent, to 1,828, its lowest level in more than a year.
The Nasdaq composite lost 122 points, or 2.7 per cent, to 4,353.
Major US indexes are down 10 percent or more since the beginning of the year.
Bond prices rose as investors shifted money out of stocks.
