Wall St. stocks dive on dying US debt deal hopes

NEW YORK: US stock markets tanked Monday on news that Congress probably has failed to reach a deal to cut the country's massive budget deficit and to extend stimulus measures into next year.

"US lawmakers are expected to announce Monday that they have failed to reach an agreement on budget cuts," said Ryan Sweet of Moody's Analytics.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 248.02 points (2.10 percent) to 11,548.14 in closing trade.

The broad-based S&P 500 index was down 22.54 points (1.85 percent) to 1,193.11, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 49.25 (1.91 percent) to 2,523.25.