Dow Finishes Down 733

Stocks continued to slide in the final hours of the trading day as retail sales and manufacturing activity slowed while core inflation jumped, the Wall Street Journal reports. Oil slid $4.09 to $74.54 a barrel, its lowest price in 2008. The Dow closed down 733.08 at 8,577.91—the index's second-largest point drop ever. The Nasdaq shed 150.68, closing at 1,628.33, and the S&P 500 lost 90.17 to settle at 907.84.

Financials fell as the shine from the equity-injection plan began to fade: Citigroup closed off 12.84%. The broad losses in commodities had aluminum maker Alcoa down 13.16% while fears that oil will continue to fall on weak demand had Chevron and Exxon Mobil down 13.52% and 14.81%, respectively. (More Dow Jones stories.)