Stocks Plunge as Global Selloff Spreads to U.S.

Updated from 9:23 a.m. EDT

Following precipitous declines in the major world indices, stocks on Wall Street were plummeting at the open Friday, as fear of a global economic slowdown intensified.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 440 points at 8252, and the S&P 500 gave back 44 points to 864. The Nasdaq tumbled 97 points to 1507.

Before trading began, futures on the major indices hit the lowest levels permitted. Premarket futures are limit-down, meaning that they cannot exceed a given loss. In a sign of deep investor trepidation, futures for the S&P 500, the Dow and the Nasdaq had all been trading with their maximum permissible losses. ...