国际英语新闻：Late plunge takes Dow below 10,000

The stock slump at day's end was the opposite of Tuesday, when major indexes erased most of the morning losses and ended little changed.

Wednesday's reversal came after the euro weakened again and approached its four-year low, a sign how nervous traders are about the debt problems in Europe.

U.S. stocks have been tracking the movement of the 16-nation currency for weeks. A sliding euro indicates waning confidence in Europe's ability to handle the debt problems in the euro-zone.

Microsoft had the biggest decline in the Dow, slumping 4.07 percent to end at 25.01 dollars per share after its CEO Steve Ballmer said problems in Europe will have a ripple impact.