Wall Street tumbled Wednesday a day after Election Day rally as negative economic data stirred investors' worries about a possibly severe recession.
ADP Employer Services reported Wednesday that companies in the U.S. cut 157,000 jobs in October, the most in nearly six years. The decline was larger than economist previous estimates.
Moreover, the U.S. Institute for Supply Management posted that non-manufacturing index dropped to 44.4 in October from 50.2 in September. Economists had estimated a smaller decline to 47.
Investors were also uneasy in advance of the Labor Department's October employment report, to be issued on Friday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 486.01, or 5.05 percent, to 9,139.27. The S&P 500 index fell 52.98, or 5.27 percent, to 952. 77. The Nasdaq composite index fell 98.48, or 5.53 percent, to 1, 681.64.
(Xinhua News Agency November 6, 2008)
