Traders work the floor at the New York Stock Exchange. Wall Street stocks plunged on heightened recession fears Wednesday, as panic returned to global markets. [Chris Hondros/Getty Images/AFP]

Dismal monthly US retail sales set the tone for the trading session, dropping to a three-year low. And a measure of New York state manufacturing also hit its lowest level since the index started in 2001.

At the close, the Dow nosedived well below 9000 points, plunging nearly eight percent and the S and P 500 tumbled nine percent to just over 907 points.

Meanwhile, light crude oil prices dropped to a new 13-month low, to below 75 US dollars a barrel, as fears of demand falling in a recession continue to grow.

(CCTV October 16, 2008)