It was another bitter day on Wall Street Wednesday, where the Dow slumped another 317 points, slipping below the 10,000 level. It's the first time since October that the Dow has closed that low.
The loss is setting the market up for what may be the worst trading week in 13 years. The blue chips lost more than 400 points on Monday, and the Nasdaq composite also suffered heavy losses that day.
The Nasdaq fell by a more moderate 42 points Wednesday.
The renewed selloff followed jitters in overseas markets, where fears are growing that slowing economies will continue to reduce corporate profits and stock prices.
Thursday Overseas
However, things are looking a bit better for stock markets worldwide that opened sharply lower Thursday morning following that slide of the Dow.
In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei Stock Average opened down 158 points Thursday. But thanks to investors' bargain hunting, the Nikkei index was back in positive territory when the afternoon session began.
Still, one Japanese analyst warns the rebound is "just a technical blip in an overall downward trend."
Meantime, South Korea's Kospi index opened more than three percent before Wednesday's closing levels. It had rebounded by midday, but was still around two-point-six percent lower.
The main stock market index in Sydney, Australia, was still nearly one percent lower by midday, with a modest rebound.
One analyst says there's a "throw-in-the-towel" mentality that is setting up a vicious cycle -- in which the U.S. markets and the European and Asian markets take their cues from each other, each falling in response to the other.
Money manager Carolann Brown says it's really scary.
Old economy stocks were the drag on the stock market Wednesday. Banking and economically sensitive stocks were the biggest decliners after word that 19 Japanese banks have been placed under review by a ratings agency.
Brown says she's seen signs in recent days that investors are wondering if they should dump stocks wholesale, even at sharply lower prices.
Since last Thursday, the Dow has lost nearly 900 points.
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