Stocks fell significantly Wednesday as a weak U.S. retail sales report and more pessimistic news from the banking sector increased fears of a prolonged recession. Wednesday's sell-off leaves the three major indexes at the lowest point since early December. Stocks have fallen through much of the first two weeks of the year as the worse-than-expected economic and corporate news has caused investors to question the rally at the end of 2008. U.S. retail sales fell 2.7 percent in December, more than twice the decline expected by economists in the critical holiday sales period, the government reported. The retail industry's leading trade group said 2008 holiday sales fell 2.8 percent compared to a year earlier. The Federal Reserve (Fed) Beige Book report showed weaker economic conditions over the past six weeks in almost all of the country's 12 districts. In other reports, U.S. import and export prices fell for the fifth consecutive month, and business inventories plunged 0.7 percent as businesses tried to keep supplies in line with tumbling sales. Light sweet crude oil for February delivery fell 50 cents to $37.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The U.S. dollar fell versus the euro and the yen. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 248.42, or 2.9 percent, to 8,200.14. Citigroup said it is selling 51 percent of its Smith Barney brokerage unit to Morgan Stanley for $2.7 billion. Citigroup stock fell 20 percent on the news. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 29.17, or 3.35 percent, to 842.62. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 56.82, or 3.7 percent, to 1,489.64. The New York Stock Exchange composite index fell 210.16 to 5,328.68. The American Stock Exchange composite index fell 66.24 to 1,338.76. And the Russell 2000 index fell 20.62 to 453.17.
