Dow Plunges

"The U.S. stock market endured its worst performance in 18 months on Thursday, driven lower by another slump in Chinese shares and heavy selling by technical traders.

The global rout started in China, where sharp declines in energy and property stocks pushed the Shanghai Composite down more than 3 percent. That selling soon spread to European and U.S. markets, where the Standard & Poor's 500 index moved further below a closely watched trading

level.

Investors, facing screens full of red, retreated to their usual places of safety: bonds, gold and cash.

"The emerging markets really got slammed overnight and that quickly spread to the rest of the world," said J.J. Kinahan, chief strategist at TD Ameritrade.

The Dow plunged 358.04 points, or 2.1 percent, to 16,990.69. The S&P 500 lost 43.88 points, or 2.1 percent, to 2,035.73 and the Nasdaq composite lost 141.56 points, or 2.8 percent, to 4,877.49." yahoo