US stocks plummeted on Thursday, with the Dow industrials tumbling 400 points, on more signs of deterioration in the US housing market and problems in financing corporate take-overs. Earnings reports also weighed on stocks.
A drop in quarterly profit at Exxon Mobil Corp wiped out more than $16 billion in market value of the world's largest publicly traded company. Exxon's stock slid 5.4 percent to $87.72.
Worrying news on housing came from home builders D.R. Horton Inc and Beazer Homes. Both posted quarterly losses. Financial shares took a beating on concern that the problems of the battered subprime mortgage market will spread.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 375.23 points, or 2.72 percent, at 13,409.84. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 45.75 points, or 3.01 percent, at 1,472.34. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 75.12 points, or 2.84 percent, at 2,573.05.
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