U.S. stocks plunged on Monday, with all three major indexes falling between 5 and 7 percent, as Wall Street had its worst day since the 2008 financial crisis. In world markets, European stocks ended lower, with the declines led by the DAX in Germany falling 4.7 percent. Asian markets also ended lower, with the declines led by the Shanghai Composite falling 3.8 percent. In U.S. economic news, Standard & Poor's (S&P) rating agency downgraded the credit ratings of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and other agencies linked to long-term U.S. debt. All the downgrades were from the top-tier AAA to the next-best AA+, reflecting the same downgrade S&P made of long-term U.S. government debt late Friday. Similarly, Moody's Investor Services warned it might also downgrade the U.S. government's credit rating if its planned measures to reduce budget deficits are not “credible.” Meanwhile, President Barack Obama offered a reassuring assessment of the U.S. economic situation, blaming a downgrade of the U.S. credit rating on political gridlock in Washington and calling the country's problems “imminently solvable.” The U.S. dollar rose versus the euro but fell versus the yen. Light sweet crude oil for September delivery fell $5.60 to $81.27 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures surged $61.40 to $1,713.20 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 634.76, or 5.6 percent, to 10,809.85. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 79.92, or 6.7 percent, to 1,119.46. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 174.72, or 6.9 percent, to 2,357.69.
