US stocks tumbled on Wednesday, driving the benchmark S&P 500 briefly into negative territory for the year, on fears that the credit crisis and fallout from the housing slump will hurt economic growth, while a surge in fuel costs threatened to squeeze holiday spending.
Shares of financial services companies, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc, led the sell-off, while those of big manufacturers and retailers sunk on concern about the impact of crude oil prices nearing $100 a barrel. Shares of mortgage lenders, including Countrywide Financial Corp, also tumbled. American International Group Inc, the world's biggest insurer by market value, was the top drag on both the Dow and the S&P 500, down more than 6 percent to $50.86, its lowest since April 2005.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 119.17 points, or 0.92 percent, at 12,890.97. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 14.72 points, or 1.02 percent, at 1,424.98. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 30.14 points, or 1.16 percent, at 2,566.67.
Shares of Goldman Sachs dropped 3.3 percent to $210.25 on the New York Stock Exchange, while AIG fell 4.8 percent to $51.83. On Tuesday, an AIG shareholder sued several of the company's officials over the insurer's exposure to the subprime mortgage crisis. On the Nasdaq, shares of iPod maker Apple Inc led losers, falling 1.4 percent to $166.48.