The Dow dropped 323 points, wiping out all gains in 2010, closing at 9,931 points. The S&P 500 index lost 37.95 points (3.4 percent), and the Nasdaq composite declined 83.86 points, or 3.6 percent.
The slide was the deepest since February and the third-worst stock market performance seen this year.
Jobs News
The market tumbled in the early going last Friday after poorer than expected U.S. job data was released by the federal government. The United States gained 431,000 jobs in May, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, but almost all of the growth was due to temporary government hirings for the 2010 U.S. census.
The number of jobs created fell far short of the close-to-600,000 mark predicted by some economists. In the meantime, permanent jobs stayed flat, and the number of unemployed workers remained at historically high levels.
The news sent shockwaves through the financial markets, with some analysts believing that the global economic recovery might be far slower than previously thought with the addition of a brewing new sovereign debt crisis in Europe.
European Debt Worries Spread to Hungary
Adding to investor worry is renewed doubts over Europe, where a spreading debt crisis in Greece may be spreading to Portugal, Spain, and now, Hungary, after the Hungarian government sent warning signals to the world that the country may have to default on its debt.
The news sent the euro down to its lowest value since early 2006, at less than $1.20. Hungary’s currency, the forint, fell 4.8 percent and settled at a 12-month low.
