Stocks Stumble as October Begins

UNDATED (AP) -- Stocks have begun the month of October with a drop of 2 to 3 percent in the key averages.

It was the worst drop on Wall Street in three months. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 203 points to 9,509. The slide intensified in the final minutes of the day, signaling that traders were growing nervous ahead of the government's key September jobs report due before today's opening bell.

The S&P 500 dropped 27 points to 1,030, while the Nasdaq fell 65 points to 2,057.

U.S. futures point to lower opening on Wall Street today.

In Asia, markets fell sharply Friday as weaker-than-expected reports about U.S. jobs and manufacturing heightened worries about an anemic recovery in the world's largest economy.

Japan's Nikkei 225 average fell 2.5 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 2.3 percent after being closed Thursday for a national holiday.

Elsewhere, Taiwan's index shed 1.8 percent, Australia's market lost 1.9 percent and Indonesia's benchmark was down 0.7 percent.

South Korea's market was closed for a holiday as were markets in China and India.

©2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten, or redistributed.