Wall Street Slides on Gold Drop, Boston Blast News

Not a day for the nervous

Stocks posted their worst day since November 7 on Monday as big declines in the price of gold, oil and other commodities fed a broad selloff in equities.

Selling accelerated late in the session as reports of explosions in Boston near the finish line of the Boston Marathon added to investors' nervousness.

Commodity-related shares led stocks' losses, with gold suffering its worst two-day sell-off in 30 years following weaker-than-expected Chinese data that fueled worries about global growth. The SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD.P) lost 8.8 percent to $131.31 on record volume.