* Gloomy economic picture fuels risk aversion
* Financials, energy, retailers among top drags
* Dow off 4.3 pct, S&P 500 off 5 pct, Nasdaq off 5.3 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news, please click on
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(Updates to late morning)
By Ellis Mnyandu
NEW YORK, Dec 1 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks tumbled on Monday
as signs of further deterioration in the economy around the
world punctured last week's market enthusiasm, with financial
services companies and retailers among Wall Street's biggest
drags.
Major industrial companies also contributed to losses on
signs global demand is faltering, leading investors to pare
back risk in favor of safe-haven government debt.
With the holiday shopping season under way, investors
feared that retailers may turn in their bleakest sales in many
years. The S&P retail index <.RLX> declined 4.4 percent.
Department store Macy's Inc <M.N> tumbled 9.6 percent.
Consumers made repeat trips to stores and spent more on
bargains this weekend, but analysts said the rush is unlikely
to translate into a much-needed boost in profit. For details,
see [].
"Things are looking quite bleak. Everyone acknowledges
that," said Brian Gendreau, investment strategist at ING
Investment Management in New York. "The question is to what
extent is that already priced into the markets. Apparently, not
entirely."
The Dow Jones industrial average <> slid 383.26 points,
or 4.34 percent, to 8,445.78. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
<.SPX> shed 45.94 points, or 5.13 percent, to 850.30. The
Nasdaq Composite Index <> plunged 82.09 points, or 5.35
percent, to 1,453.48.
In the United States, factory activity fell in November to
its weakest since 1982, according to the Institute for Supply
Management. For details, see [] The data jolted
investors who earlier got news of weaker Chinese and European
manufacturing activity.
Top drags included financials, with Citigroup <C.N> down
nearly 9 percent, after an influential analyst forecast more
losses for the major U.S. bank. A slide in commodity prices
pinned resource stocks in the red, with aluminum producer Alcoa
<AA.N> tumbling almost 9 percent.
Among big manufacturers, Caterpillar Inc <CAT.N> plunged
8.6 percent, as General Electric slid more than 7 percent.
The market's slide extended a global equity rout that hurt
stocks in Asia and sent European indexes sliding 4 percent or
more.
A lower close on Monday would snap a 5-day streak of gains
for the S&P 500 stock index. Yields on benchmark 10-year
Treasury notes sagged to five-decade lows and prices rose as
investors sought the safety of government debt.
Citigroup shares fell to $7.49 on the New York Stock
Exchange, while Bank of America <BAC.N> slid 8.7 percent to
$14.82. The S&P financial index <.GSPF> plunged 7.1 percent.
Shares of Caterpillar, a maker of bulldozers and
excavators, dropped to $37.33.
Among retailers, shares of department store operator Macy's
Inc <M.N> tumbled 9.6 percent to $6.71, as those of Wal-Mart
Stores <WMT.N> , the world's biggest retailer, shed 3.3 percent
to $54.04.
One analyst expected the U.S. credit-card industry to cut
$2 trillion in credit lines over 18 months, which would be a
severe blow to spending for cash-strapped consumers.
Shares of Alcoa fell to $9.78. Shares of energy companies
were another drag as oil prices fell on concerns that the
economic slump will hurt energy demand. U.S. front-month crude
<CLc1> fell about 8 percent to $49 a barrel.
On Nasdaq, chipmaker Qualcomm Inc <QCOM.O> was the top
drag, falling 6.3 percent to $31.44.
(Editing by Kenneth Barry)
