NEW YORK — Stocks plunged for a second straight day Thursday, falling to levels not seen in at least five years, as financial and energy stocks tumbled while demand for the safety of government debt spiked.
Wall Street saw the most intense selling late in the session after hopes faded that lawmakers would quickly assemble an aid package for U.S. automakers and as the Standard & Poor’s 500 index broke through lows established in 2002. That breach of a key threshold sent a shudder through the market and touched off further selling.
The S&P 500 index fell 6.7 percent to its lowest close since April 1997. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 445 points, or 5.6 percent, to its lowest close since March 2003. The decline brings the Dow’s two-day drop to 873 points, or 10.6 percent, its worst two-day percentage loss since October 1987.
Financial stocks plunged on worries that the government’s financial rescue won’t be sufficient.
Citigroup tumbled below $5 a share Thursday — its lowest level in more than 15 years.
Meanwhile, a sharp drop in oil prices weighed heavily on energy companies.
The pullback came amid heavy volume, a welcome sign for some investors looking for the market to experience a cathartic sell-off that could lay the groundwork for a recovery.
