U.S. Stock Markets Fall Sharply After S & P Downgrade

Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) -- A decline of more than 600 points has dropped the Dow industrials below the 11,000 mark, on the first trading day after Standard & Poor's downgraded American debt.

It's the first time since November that the blue-chip index has been that low.

Fresh memories of the financial crisis of three years ago are helping to drive investors away from risky investments and into what's considered safe. Treasury prices are up, despite S&P's assessment that they are riskier than the debt of some other countries.

The downgrade wasn't a surprise but it came as investors were already feeling nervous about a weak U.S. economy, European debt problems and Japan's recovery from its March earthquake.