U.S. stocks on Friday plunged for an eighth straight day in a wild trading session that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average fall more than 500 points three times to under 8,000 only to battle back as fears escalated that the trauma in the credit markets could be paving the way toward a global recession.
The Dow industrials (DJI) were recently off 511.34 points, or 5.9%, at 8, 067.85 with 28 of its 30 components trading lower. Shares of oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) paced the blue-chip decliners, down 13.7%.
The Dow's more recent level positions it for a 21.9% decline from last Friday's close, and 25.5% for the past eight sessions.
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