US stocks tumbled on Thursday on market concerns over a collapse of oil prices and a credit rating downgrade for American giant General Electric.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 219.35 points or 2.49%, to 8,604.99 at the closing bell.
The tech-rich Nasdaq fell 26.94 points, or 1.71%, to 1,552.37.
The Standard & Poor's 500 broad-market index retreated 19.07 points, or 2.11%, to 885.35.
The market opened higher but succumbed to pressure as oil prices tumbled to the lowest points for more than four years and credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's revised its outlook on General Electric's financial unit General Electric Capital Corp to negative from stable.
The energy sector was among the worst performers as oil and other key commodities traded with weakness.
