NEW YORK — Fear drove Wall Street to one of its most dramatic, dizzying days in years on Wednesday.
Investors fled stocks and poured into bonds as worries about a global economic slowdown intensified. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 460 points in afternoon trading, all three U.S. stock indexes were in negative territory for the year, and the so-called fear index spiked.
A late recovery limited the damage and left stocks mostly lower. But investors were shaken after the heaviest day of trading in more than three years.