Stocks Plunge As Oil Tumbles 4%; Dow Down 268

Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY 4:18 p.m. EST December 10, 2014

Stocks tumbled Wednesday in the markets worst day since early October as a gloomy prediction for global oil demand sent crude prices plunging again.

It was the third straight day of losses for the Dow and S&P 500 after a huge run-up since mid-October.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 268 points, or 1.5%, to 17,533. The three-day drop puts the blue-chip index more than 400 points away from the 18,000 milestone it nearly hit Friday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 34 points, or 1.6%, to 2026 and the Nasdaq composite index fell 82 points, or 1.7%, to 4684.

The dominant financial story remains oil, as the price of crude plunged again after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) slashed its estimate of how much crude oil it will need to produce in 2015.

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http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/markets/2014/12/10/stocks-wednesday/20186429/