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Wall Street shares tumbled Thursday as an unexpected jump in weekly jobless claims and a disappointing survey on manufacturing stoked concerns over economic recovery.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average skidded 203.00 points (2.09 percent) to 9,509.28 as the blue chip index posted its largest single-session point loss since July 2.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite slumped 64.94 points (3.06 percent) to 2,057.48, sinking the most among key stock indices in its worst single day loss since mid-August.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 27.23 points (2.58 percent) to 1,029.85.
"Stocks started the fourth quarter on a sour note today, thanks to disappointing manufacturing data and another ominous unemployment report," said Andrea Kramer of Schaeffer's Investment Research.
The market fell into the red from the opening bell as the government released a series of economic data.
New claims for US unemployment benefits rose in the week to September 26 by 17,000 to 551,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 534,000, the Labour Department said.
The high unemployment will keep American consumers cautious about spending, which drives two-thirds of economic activity.
"Ultimately, income growth will drive consumer spending and businesses seem to be intent on watching their wage costs carefully," said Joel Naroff at Naroff Economic Advisors.
A survey of the US manufacturing sector meanwhile showed growth for the second consecutive month in September but at a slower pace.
The Institute of Supply Management said its index of the factory sector, also known as the purchasing managers index, fell to 52.6 percent from 52.9 percent in August. Any number above 50 indicates growth.
The reports came a day ahead of a monthly report on unemployment and nonfarm payrolls, seen as one of the best indicators of economic momentum.
Analysts expect the report to show a loss of another 180,000 jobs -- continuing a trend of narrowing job losses -- with the unemployment rate rising from the current 9.7 percent to 9.9 percent.
Concern regarding the upcoming jobs report pushed buyers to the sidelines, leaving stocks to "drop sharply in broad-based fashion," analysts at Briefing.com <http://briefing.com/> said.
Financial stocks were among the worst hit.
Bank of America fell 4.20 percent to 16.21 dollars a day after its embattled chief executive Kenneth Lewis announced he would leave the company by the end of the year. JP Morgan was down 5.59 percent to 41.37 dollars.
Among technology stocks, Microsoft fell 3.68 percent to 24.86 dollars after Goldman Sachs removed the software giant from its "conviction buy" list, citing risk to first-quarter earnings, but retained a "buy" rating on the company.
Ford dropped 3.33 percent 6.97 dollars although it fared better than its competitors in September sales.
Penske Automotive Group slumped 15.95 percent to 16.12 dollars as it took a beating following failed talks with General Motors over the Saturn brand. GM said it would shut down Saturn.
Investors looked to bonds amid new caution on stocks. That drove down the yield on the 10-year Treasury bond to 3.194 percent from 3.307 percent Wednesday. The 30-year bond yielded 3.959 percent from 4.048 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
