Wall Street Stumbles Again

Equities in western Europe also faltered. London's FTSE 100 lost 0.9%, Frankfurt's Xetra DAX gave up 1%, and the Paris Cac 40 was lower by 0.7%.

Treasury prices were lower for the session. The 10-year note was down 6/32 in price, yielding 4.52%, and the 30-year bond was off 9/32, yielding 4.65%.

Elsewhere, commodities finished lower. Oil eased $1.57 to close at $60.07 a barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold was off $4.90 to finish at $639.20 an ounce, its fifth straight loss, and silver was down 21 cents to $12.75 an ounce.

In the session's only economic release, the Institute for Supply Management said the reading of its services index fell to 54.3 in February from 59.0 in January. Economists expected the index to dip to a reading of 57.5 last month.

Ian Shepherdson, chief economist with High Frequency Economics, said that "given the mood of the markets [and] the uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook, the report does not look good. Not everyone is as skeptical as us about its value as a forward-looking indicator."

Among equities, stocks in the subprime sector remained in the news. Shares of New Century Financial (NEW Quote) plummeted 69% after the lender said it is facing a federal criminal probe from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. New Century dropped $10.09 to close at $4.56.