US stocks sharply down on opening; Dow loses 2.9pc

WASHINGTON: US stocks fell sharply in opening trade Wednesday, paring more than half their gains of Tuesday's rebound, as worries over the economy's weakness continued to spook investors.

In the first five minutes of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 323.74 points (2.88 percent) to 10,916.03.

The broader S&P 500 fell 32.98 points (2.81 percent) to 1,139.55, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 77.09 (3.11 percent) to 2,405.43.

The new plunge came after the Dow surged nearly four percent on Tuesday following the Federal Reserve's announcement that it would keep interest rates ultra-low for two more years to help the struggling economy.

"Tuesday's interest rate news from the Federal Reserve put some of the wind back into the bulls' sails, pushing the major indexes into the black by the close... However, these gains appear to be short-lived, with all three indexes pointing lower," said Sarah Wasserman of Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011