DOW slides 268 points, oil, and gold dive as well

Fears about the global economy and sovereign credit hammered stocks Thursday, causing the Dow Jones Industrial Average to briefly cross below 10,000 for its worst day since April.

Other markets gyrated as well, with commodities reeling while Treasury prices and the dollar rallied as investors sought safety.

The Dow average /quotes/comstock/10w!i:dji/delayed  (INDU  10,002, -268.29, -2.61%) ended down 268.37 points, its worst one-day point slide since April 20, 2009. The measure was off 2.6% for the day to end at 10,002.18, a three-month low.

Throughout the day, investor fretted over signs that Europe’s governments are struggling to finance their debts and that America’s employment picture may not be improving as much as expected. Read related story on stocks sell-off.

“We may be in a run-for-the-hills scenario,” in the sovereign-debt markets, said Ben Inker, director of asset allocation at the portfolio-management firm GMO.

“You really do have to ask the question, what is the purpose of government bonds in my portfolio? If their purpose is to be the low-risk asset, what do we do if we don’t see them as low-risk and there aren’t yields to compensate us for that?”

In the credit markets on Thursday, the cost of insuring the debt of eurozone members with large budget deficits against default rose, dashing hopes that the European Commission’s qualified endorsement of Greece’s budget plan would calm investor fears.

Source:  Marketwatch.com