Dow Sinks Below 10,000 on China, Economic Worries

As expected, U.S stock markets stumbled at the open with the Dow Jones Industrial Average already below the 10,000 mark. The Dow fell some 235 points around 10:07 a.m. to 9,912 -- a slide of over 2.2%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite are sliding even more. The S&P 500 dropped nearly 2.4% and the Nasdaq skidded nearly 3%.

It all started with jitters over China and global economic growth. China's Conference Board revised its April leading economic indicator sharply lower to 0.3% from 1.7% reported earlier, triggering a stock market selloff. The Shanghai Composite lost 4.3%.

Meanwhile, Japanese data showed that the nation's recovery has slowed. And European indexes followed suit, falling sharply after Greek workers walked off the job to protest steep budget cuts.

Investors' confidence didn't improve even after the first reported home prices increase in seven months. Investors worried that the increase will be just temporary, because the tax credit ended in April.