election nerves sent stocks plunging Wednesday as investors, again anxious about a recession, began questioning what impact a Barack Obama presidency will have on business and the overall economy. The Dow Jones industrials dropped more than 400 points and the major indexes all fell more than 4 percent. Stocks fell initially as investors cashed in gains after a six-day run that lifted the Standard & Poor's 500 index more than 18 percent. But the selling picked up momentum as the market worried anew about the weakness of the economy and pondered what an Obama administration might do. In late afternoon trading, the Dow fell 402.94, or 4.19 percent, to 9,222.34. The S&P 500 index fell 39.88, or 3.97 percent, to 965.87. Through the six sessions that ended Tuesday, the index, the one most closely watched by market professionals, rose 18.3 percent. The Nasdaq composite index fell 70.66, or 3.97 percent, to 1,709.46, while the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 22.66, or 4.15 percent, to 523.31. Britain's leading share index fell 2.3 percent, ending a six-session winning streak, as investors shifted their focus back to the faltering economy after Democrat Barack Obama won the US presidential race. The FTSE 100 closed down 108.77 points at 4,530.73, after gaining nearly 20 percent in the previous six sessions. FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading European shares closed 2.15 percent lower at 953.24 points. The index has lost nearly 37 percent so far this year. The DAX index ended at 5166.87 points, down 111.17 or 2.11 percent. The CAC-40 index closed at 3618.11 points, down 72.98 or 1.98 percent. The Swiss market index closed at 6177.15 points, down 222.83 or 3.48 percent. Milan's All Share Mibtel index closed at 17536 points, down 214 or 1.21 percent. In Asia, however, Japan's Nikkei average rose 4.5 percent to a three-week closing high. The Nikkei gained 406.64 points to close at 9,521.24. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed up 455.82 points at 14,840.16. Australian shares rose 2.9 percent to their highest close in one month, with S&P/ASX 200 index climbed 121.5 points to close at 4,336.6. South African stocks fell. The All-share index closed at 20950.98 points, down 698.6 or 3.23 percent. The All Gold index closed at 1706.7 points, up 16.49 or 0.98 percent, while the Industrial index closed at 17134.01 points, down 661.54 or 3.72 percent.
