Banks helped drag down the U.S. stock market today, as the greater economic crisis and the financial meltdown demonstrated once more that they are inextricable linked. Investors worried that credit conditions will deteriorate even further before getting better, due to Barack Obama's promise of tight restrictions on U.S. government money going to banks, and the belief that many banks are not done posting massive losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 125.13 points, or 1.8 percent, to end at 8474.05. The S&P 500 dropped 20.09 points, or 2.3 percent, to 870.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 32.80 points, or 2.1 percent, to 1538.79. The New York Stock Exchange Composite Index fell about 151 points, or 2.5 percent. The American Stock Exchange Composite Index fell 46.52 points, or 3.17 percent, and the Russell 2000 Index fell 12.5 points, or 2.6 percent. Oil fell $3.24 to settle at $37.59 a barrel. Crude oil has plunged from $140 a barrel last July, and fell another 23 percent in the last week.
