US stocks fall on global recession belief

Wall Street capped another difficult week with steep losses today, sending the major indexes to their lowest levels in more than five years as markets around the world skidded lower on the belief that a punishing economic recession is at hand.

It was a dramatic, fractious day on the Street, with the Dow Jones industrials falling more than 500 points soon after trading began and, following the pattern of recent sessions, recovering ground only to fall sharply again.