US: Wall St plunges; Nasdaq at lowest since August

[NEW YORK] A plunge in oil prices sent US stocks sharply lower at the open on Friday, with the Nasdaq falling over 3 per cent to its lowest since Aug 24 and S&P 500 less than 30 points away from its August lows.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 159.22 points, or 0.97 per cent, to 16,219.83.

The S&P 500 lost 24.49 points, or 1.27 per cent, to 1,897.35 and the Nasdaq Composite index dropped 146.07 points, or 3.17 per cent, to 4,468.94.

REUTERS