Stocks plunged Thursday after President Barack Obama announced a proposal to increase regulation of the country's biggest financial firms, including limiting the size and scope of their trading operations. Stocks had fallen through the morning as lingering concerns about China's reduced lending practices hit commodities and the broader market. Reports showing rising U.S. jobless claims and a drop in regional manufacturing activity added to losses, which accelerated in the late morning as investors prepared for Obama's announcement. Obama called for limiting commercial banks' ability to make risky trades and stopping them from owning or investing in hedge funds or private-equity funds. The proposal would separate commercial and investment banks, and would be similar to a Great Depression-era law that was abandoned a decade ago. The president's proposal would particularly impact big banks like J.P. Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America. In economic news, the number of Americans filing new jobless claims unexpectedly rose last week. The number of people continuing to receive government jobless benefits fell to 4.599 million from 4.617 million. An index on mid-Atlantic manufacturing fell more than expected in January, and a third report showed that U.S. leading economic indicators (designed to predict economic activity in the coming three to six months) rose 1.1 percent in December, gaining for the ninth consecutive month. The U.S. dollar rose versus the euro and the yen, pressuring dollar-traded commodities. Light sweet crude oil for February delivery fell $1.66 to $76.08 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, despite declining U.S. inventories and plunging refinery utilization. Gold fell $9.40 to $1.103.20 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 213.27, or 2 percent, to 10,389.88. All 30 of the index's components fell, led by IBM, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Caterpillar, Coca-Cola, and bank stocks. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 21.56, or 1.9 percent, to 1,116.48. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 25.55, or 1.1 percent, to 2,265.70. The New York Stock Exchange composite index fell 155.37 to 7,174.46. The American Stock Exchange composite index fell 34.44 to 1,847.38. And the Russell 2000 index fell 11.25 to 628.36.
