Stocks Nosedive Into the Close, Sink More Than 2.5%

Homebuilder Toll Brothers (TOL) said its fourth-quarter loss narrowed year over year and said its revenue in the coming year would fall substantially from current levels. The stock jumped 6.9% to $20.55.

In one bright spot, retail giant Wal-Mart (WMT) announced its same-store sales rose 3.4% in November. Shares ticked up 1.3% to $55.11.

Across the board, however, the November same-store sales picture was less encouraging. Costco (COST), Limited (LTD) and Pacific Sunwear (PSUN) were among companies to announce slackening sales.

Turning to economic data, the Labor Department said jobless claims for the week ended Nov. 29 fell 21,000 to 509,000. The result was better than economists' forecast of 540,000 claims for the week. Separately, the Census Bureau's October read on factory orders showed a 5.1% decline, a larger drop than the 4% consensus estimate.

Speaking in Washington, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the government needs to take further steps to stop home foreclosures. He said that one option is for the government to buy troubled mortgage securities, and another is for federal agencies to help shoulder the costs of reductions in borrowers' monthly payments.

As the financial crisis was felt overseas, the Bank of England cut its key interest rate by one percentage point to 2%, and the European Central Bank reduced its rate to 2.5% from 3.25%. France also announced a $33 billion economic stimulus plan.

Longer-dated U.S. Treasury securities were rising in price. The 10-year note was up 32/32, yielding 2.55%, and the 30-year was adding 2-6/32 to yield 3.06%. The dollar was lately gaining on the euro and pound but falling vs. the yen.

Abroad, European exchanges, including the FTSE in London and the DAX in Frankfurt, were trading lower. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng finished on the downside.