Wall Street tumbled again Wednesday with all the major indexes dropping more than 7 percent as weak economic data stirred fear of economic recession.
The government's report that retail sales plunged in September by 1.2 percent, refreshed investors' worries that the U.S. economy is already in a recession.
The Labor Department said the producer price index, which measures inflation pressures before they reach the consumer, fell 0.4 percent in September, driven by lower energy costs.
The latest Federal Reserve's Beige Book found that the economy continued to slow in the early fall as financial and credit problems took a turn for the worse.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday that efforts taken by the U.S. government to stabilize financial markets and free current credit crunch probably won't lead to a prompt economic rebound.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 733.08 points to 8,577.91 and the Standard & Poor's index plunged 90.18 points to 907.83. The Nasdaq lost 150.68 points to 1,628.33.
(Xinhua News Agency October 16, 2008)
