A trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange today. (AP)

Associated Press | The Dow Jones nearly fell under 10,000 for the first time since Nov. 6, buckling under the growing belief that the global economy is weaker than many investors expected.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow has ended the day down
268 at 10,002 after falling to 9,998 just before the close. The
Standard & Poor’s 500 is down 34 at 1,063. And the Nasdaq composite
index is off 65 at 2,125.

Investors pulled money out of the market after a flood of bad news Thursday. Debt levels are rising in Europe and the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits jumped unexpectedly. And investors are anxious ahead of the government’s January employment report, due out Friday.

Just 273 stocks rose on the New York Stock Exchange, while more than 2,800 fell. Volume came to 1.48 billion shares.