The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all fall

The Dow fell 268.37, or 2.6 percent, to 10,002.18. The Dow has fallen 723 points, or 6.7 percent, since closing at a 15-month high of 10,725.43 on Jan. 19.

The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 34.17, or 3.1 percent, to 1,063.11, its steepest drop since April 20, 2009.

The Nasdaq composite index slid 65.48, or 3 percent, to 2,125.43.

Benchmark oil for March delivery fell $3.84 to settle at $73.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the biggest one-day drop in four months.

In London, Brent crude for March delivery shed $3.79 to settle at $72.13 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Natural gas prices lost 0.3 cent to settle at $5.416 per 1,000 cubic feet, after the Energy Information Administration said that the country’s glut of natural gas only dropped by 115 billion cubic feet. Analysts expected it to shrink much more.

In other Nymex trading in March contracts, heating oil fell 8.42 cents to settle at $1.9352 a gallon, while gasoline dropped 8.54 cents to settle at $1.9508 a gallon.

Tags: us business, standard and poor, business, dow, nasdaq, stock, market, mercantile, exchange, crude, nymex