Stock Market

From Bloomberg

Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks tumbled the most since September 2002 as a plunge in Chinese shares sparked a global selloff and raised concern that investors will dump equities after a four-year bull market.

The declines, compounded by a slide in demand for U.S. business equipment, wiped out the year-to-date gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. The Nasdaq Composite Index also headed for its steepest drop since July 2002. Only two companies in the S&P 500 rose and every one of the Dow’s 30 members retreated, led by Alcoa Inc. and Caterpillar Inc., companies that depend on demand from China.

Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index slid 3 percent and emerging markets dropped. Russian shares fell from an all-time high, while Brazil’s Bovespa Index sank 7.8 percent. U.S. Treasuries rose on increased demand for debt securities amid the worldwide equity slump and signs of a slowing economy after durable-goods orders fell more than forecast in January.

“Any force that works against global economic expansion is a negative,” said Liam Dalton, who oversees $1.2 billion as chief executive officer of Axiom Capital Management in New York. “The big straw on the camel’s back is this China issue.”

The S&P 500 retreated 47.05, or 3.3 percent, to 1402.32 as of 3:15 p.m. in New York after earlier losing as much as 4.1 percent. The Dow average sank 409.93, or 3.3 percent, to 12,222.33. It earlier fell as much as 546.2 points, or 4.3 percent. The Nasdaq dropped 90.73, or 3.6 percent, to 2413.79.

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