Dow Closes Down 354 Points

Biggest drop since November

Stocks plunged Thursday as investors reacted for the second day to the Federal Reserve signaling it may pull back later this year on its massive bond buying that has helped fuel the economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 353.87 points, 2.3%, to 14,758.32—its biggest one-day point drop since Nov. 9, 2011—when it ended down 389 points. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index finished down 40.74 points, a drop of 2.5%, to 1,588.19 and below the psychologically significant 1,600 mark. The tech-laden Nasdaq composite index dropped 78.57 points, 2.3%, to 3,364.64.

The blue-chip Dow is now 5% below its all-time intraday high of 15,542.40 hit in May 22. And it's the eighth straight day of triple-digit moves up or down in the Dow, the longest such streak since early October 2011.