LATEST STOCK MARKET DATA

Hot & Cold Sectors
Tracking the major movements across the best & worst performing industry sector indexes.
Dow Components
Top Gainers & Losers
Major Indexes & Stocks to Watch

MORE HEADLINES

Markets | Economy | Companies

- When Stock Performance Looks a Little Too Good

LATEST FROM OUR BLOGS

- U.S. Markets End Week Positive, Dollar Rallies

FEATURED SLIDESHOWS

The Best Countries for Expats
If you chose to move from your current country of residence, where would be the best place for you to go?
10 Hot Gadgets for the Holidays
If you’re shopping for a gadget hound, the thousands of choices can be downright baffling. Here are a few that should make you a hit with friends and family.
Runway Angels
Check out behind the scenes of one of the fashion world's more notable product events.

FEATURED QUIZZES

Test Your Google IQ
How much do you know about the most popular search engine in the world? Take the following quiz and find out.
A Healthier & Wealthier You
Take the following quiz and find out how much you know about the impact of obesity on the health of the U.S. economy.
How Well Do You Know Your Bird?
Let's talk turkey. Test your turkey knowledge and perhaps pick up a bit of trivia to trot out at your holiday meal.

SPECIAL REPORTS

Predictions '10
After a brutal 2009, we're all looking forward to 2010. Here's what our bloggers expect.
Holiday Central
There are plenty of reasons to believe that this Christmas holiday season will not be as bad for retailers as last year.
Winterizing Your Portfolio
If 2009 was the winter of our discontent, will 2010 be a winter wonderland for investors? A lot depends on the recovery—or lack thereof.

Dow Down Over 200; VIX Pops Above 30

Published: Friday, 30 Oct 2009 | 2:30 PM ET

Text Size

By: Cindy Perman
CNBC.com

Stocks tumbled Friday, giving back all of the gains from the prior session, as worries about the recovery escalated after a pair of reports on the consumer.

In afternoon trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down more than 200 points, or 2.2 percent. The Nasdaq shed 2.2 percent and the S&P 500 dropped 2.4 percent.

The CBOE volatility index, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, shot up 25 percent to about 31. With the market's recent rally, the gauge had fallen to near 20.

Major U.S. Indexes

.DJIA

.NCOMP

.SPX

This came after stocks logged their best day since July on Thursday, with the Dow jumping 2 percent.

Quiz: Think You Understand the Markets? Prove It.

The sectors that have led the recent rally pulled back today: Financials, materials and energy were all down more than 3 percent.

All 30 Dow components were lower, led by Bank of America [BAC Loading... () ], JPMorgan [JPM Loading... () ] and Alcoa [AA Loading... () ].

FOR INVESTORS

Carl Icahn, who had challenged CIT Group's [CIT Loading... () ] restructuring, jumped in Friday, saying he would provide an additional $1 billion in credit to the commercial lender.

This came after as CIT reached an agreement with Goldman Sachs [GS Loading... () ] to amend a $3 billion loan as part of a plan to restructure debt.

And Citigroup [C Loading... () ] may have to take another $10 billion in write-downs for deferred tax assets, banking analyst Michael Mayo said.

Some disappointing data on the consumer: Reuters and the University of Michigan reported their gauge of consumer sentiment slipped to 70.6 in a final October reading from 73.5 in September.

And the government said consumer spending fell 0.5 percent last month while income was flat. Separate reports showed employment costs rose and New York City's economic activity continuing to pick up.

Investors shrugged off an encouraging regional report: Business activity in the Midwest expanded in October to the highest level in more than a year, according to the Chicago purchasing managers' index.

On the earnings front, Chevron [CVX Loading... () ] reported its profit slumped 51 percent but beat expectations as the company pumped more oil out of the ground and prices began to recover.

This came a day after rival ExxonMobil [XOM Loading... () ] missed analysts' earnings target.

Winterizing Your Portfolio - A CNBC Special Report

AIG [AIG Loading... () ] said on Friday it would not sell its two Japanese insurers.

Intel shares [INTC Loading... () ] rose and there's been heavy options action on the stock amid optimism about the chip maker's forecast.

A few more techs delivered upbeat outlooks, including Sony, Panasonic and Samsung.

Sony [SNE Loading... () ] posted a fourth-quarter loss but cut its full-year loss forecast closer to market expectations, while rival Panasonic [PC Loading... () ] showed its first profit in three quarters while raising its forecast.