Wild Day On Wall Street Leads To Sharp Drops
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – After sinking more than 500 points at one point on Wednesday, stocks did manage to recover by closing.
But the lows were significant – at one point dropping by 565 points.
The Dow Jones Industrial average fell 249 points to 15,766. The NASDAQ slipped five points to end the date at 4.471. The S&P 500 lost 22 points to close at 1,859.
Oil prices also didn't fare so well, suffering their worst single-day drop since September and crude fell below $27 a barrel - the lowest price since 2003.
Those falling oil prices are to blame for the wild day on Wall Street.
On the one hand, it's great news at the gas pump because the national average is well below the $2 per gallon mark.
On the other hand, it's bad news for energy companies and the hundreds of thousands of Americans in places like North Dakota and Texas who work for them.
"They're either losing their job or making less. Now the place they buy their shoes isn't selling shoes. The place they buy their cars isn't selling cars," said NYSE Trader Stephen Guilfoyle.
Traders are also worried about the economy in China – a huge market for American goods.
China's main stock -- the Shanghai Composite -- has dropped by more than 40 percent since last summer and it's taking the world markets down with it including Wall Street.
