(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-11-27 07:57

NEW YORK -- Stocks tumbled on Monday as investors worried rising mortgage defaults and credit market losses will drag on the economy, fueling fears that consumers will slash spending during the vital holiday season.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, moments before the closing bell, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down more than 90 points, November 14, 2007. [Agencies]

The decline, led once again by big drops in financial services stocks, erased year-to-date gains for the benchmark S&P 500 index.

So far this month, the S&P 500 has fallen 9.2 percent, putting Wall Street on the verge of its worst one-month slump in five years. On a points basis, the Dow is less than 200 points away from its worst monthly slide ever.

Citigroup Inc, the largest US bank, slid below the $30 mark on Monday for the first time since October 2002.

The sell-off in financials overshadowed optimism early in the session fed by reports that the holiday shopping season's unofficial kick-off on Friday was stronger than many had expected. Retailers soon lost their bid as well with the S&P retailer index falling nearly 3 percent.

Risk Aversion

In shunning stocks and other risky assets, investors rushed to the perceived safety of US government bonds, sparking the biggest bond market rally in over three years. The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes, which moves inversely to their price, fell to its lowest in more than three and a half years.

"The big thing is finance is down. It is more worries about the financial crisis, and what the expectations of these big banks are," said Giri Cherukuri, head trader at OakBrook Investments LLC in Lisle, Illinois.

"People are trying to figure out about the slowdown, and more and more people are thinking more seriously about how severe the economic slowdown is going to be," he said.

The Dow Jones industrial average slid 237.44 points, or 1.83 percent, to close at 12,743.44. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index sank 33.48 points, or 2.32 percent, to 1,407.22. The Nasdaq Composite Index plunged 55.61 points, or 2.14 percent, to close at 2,540.99.

The slide took the indexes down more than 10 percent off their 52-week closing highs set last month. Market technicians consider a drop of this magnitude as a correction in an index or an asset.

The S&P 500 finished in the red for the year-to-date. Citigroup was among the top drags on the Dow and the S&P 500, along with Exxon Mobil Corp, whose stock declined as crude oil prices retreated.

   1 2   

   1 2