U.S. stocks plunge on European debt fear, jobless data

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Wall Street plunged on Thursday, with the Dow Jones falling briefly below 10,000 for the first time since November 2009, as investors rethink global recovery amid mounting European debt problems and worse-than-expected U.S. jobless data.

As of Thursday's close, the Dow Jones tumbled 268.37, or 2.61 percent, to 10,002.18. Dow's 2.61 percent drop was its biggest in seven months. It was the ninth time in 14 days that the Dow has moved by more than 100 points.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index plummeted 34.17, or 3.11 percent, to 1,063.11 and the Nasdaq was down 65.48, or 2.99 percent to 2,125.43.

Just 273 stocks rose on the New York Stock Exchange, while more than 2,800 fell.

Worries about sovereign debt in Greece, Spain and elsewhere in Europe weighed on global market, lifting the U.S. dollar and dragging prices on commodities and related stocks nose-down as a stronger greenback diminished the appeal of dollar-priced assets to foreign buyers.

The U.S. dollar index climbed to its highest in seven months, exerting severe pressures on the price of commodities. Gold tumbled 4.4 percent to settle at 1,063 dollars an ounce. Benchmark crude ended down about 5 percent to 73.14 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, its biggest one-day drop in four months.

Also sending jitters to the market, government report showed U. S. weekly claims for jobless rose to the highest level since mid- December.

According to the U.S. Labor Department, new claims for unemployment insurance rose by 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 480, 000 while economists had expected a drop.

The report came in a day before the closely watched nonfarm payrolls report due on Friday. Economists expect a rise of 13,000 jobs in Friday's nonfarm payroll report while the unemployment rate is forecast to rise to 10.1 percent.

Bearish sentiment rose 6.4 percentage points to a three-month high of 43.1 percent, as measured by a weekly sentiment survey from the American Association of Individual Investors.