After drifting in and out of positive territory throughout the session, sellers took over during the last hour of trading and Wall Street ended the day deeply in the red.

Today’s Market

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 203.18 points, or 2.42%, to 8175.77, the broader S&P 500 lost 27.85 points, or 3.18%, to 848.92 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 46.13 points, or 2.97%, to 1505.90. The consumer-friendly FOX 50 dropped 13.93 points, or 2.08%, to 655.76.

Wall Street tried but was unable to distance itself from the wave of selling that slammed global markets overnight. 

Typical of the last few weeks, Wall Street saw heavy turbulence that included a 450-point trading range on the Dow. In fact, the Dow crossed over between positive and and negative territory 60 times during the session. The benchmark U.S. index had been more than 200 points in the green at one point before those gains disappeared. 

“Believe it or not, traders are not all that disappointed that we gave all of that [rally] back because” of the scary overseas losses, James Maguire of Christopher J. Forbes told FOX Business. “The fact that we aren’t down 600 or 700 points is a welcome relief.”

It's worth noting that Monday's action featured relatively light trading volume of just over 1.3 billion shares on the New York Stock Exchange. Traders were apprehensive to jump into the markets ahead of an expected interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday.

October hasn’t been a pretty month on Wall Street. All three major indexes have lost about one-quarter of their value over the past three weeks. The Dow has ended in positive territory in just four of the month's 19 trading sessions. If the Dow ends October at these levels, this month would be the worst performance for the index since September 1931. 

Telecom giant Verizon (VZ) led the advancers up on the Dow, jumping double-digit percentages following its third-quarter earnings report. Home Depot (HD) and 3M (MM) were the only other blue-chip stocks ending in the green. General Motors (GM) and Boeing (BA) were the biggest percentage losers on the Dow. 

The late-day selloff didn't appear to be sparked by any specific, negative developments. Instead, it followed a month-long pattern of stocks plunging during the last hour of trading. 

While U.S. markets saw steep losses, the damage wasn't as ugly as futures and global markets had indicated. 

Hong Kong took the brunt of the damage as its Hang Sang Index plunged 12% to end at its lowest level in more than four years. Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 6% of its value to close in territory unseen since October 1982.

European markets saw more modest losses with London's FTSE 100 ending 1% lower and France's CAC 40 Index tumbling 4%.

The financial sector led the markets higher early Monday after a series of companies announced their intention to accept a combined $20 billion of equity injections from the federal government’s financial rescue plan. Those companies include Key Corp. (KEY) Capital One (COF), SunTrust (STT), Valley National (VLY), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), Comerica (CMA) and Huntington Bancshares (HBAN).

The historic investments from the federal government are aimed at allowing these banks to solidify their balance sheets and potentially expand through acquisitions like PNC's (PNC) buyout of National City (NCC) last week. 

A rare, better-than-expected report on housing provided the markets with fleeting optimism Monday morning. The Commerce Department said new home sales jumped by 2.7% in September to an annual rate of 464,000. Economists had expected a more modest rise in sales. However, the median price of new homes plunged 9.1% last month to $218,400 -- the lowest level since September 2004. 

Meanwhile, crude oil prices fluctuated along with the equities markets on Monday, ending the day down 93 cents at $63.22 a barrel -- the lowest settlement price since May 2007.

There has been little to bring oil prices out of an unprecedented tailspin ever since hitting $147 a barrel in July, not even last week’s production cut from OPEC. 

Corporate Movers

General Motors (GM) and Chrysler LLC could be forced to file for bankruptcy protection if they fail to reach a merger agreement that could need government help, The Wall Street Journal reported. 

Verizon (VZ) posted a 31% jump in third-quarter profit, matching estimates from Wall Street. The telecom giant earned $1.67 billion, or 59 cents a share, as revenues rose 4% to $24.7 billion. 

CenturyTel (CTL) unveiled an all-stock $5.8 billion deal to buy Embarq (EQ), a rival and larger phone company. The deal places a 36% premium on Embarq.

Goldman Sachs (GS) CEO Lloyd Blankfein unsuccessfully attempted to start merger talks with Citigroup (C) last month, the Financial Times reported. 

Humana (HUM) fell sharply after the health insurer reported a weaker-than-expected Medicare enrollment projection. Still, Human's third-quarter profit and 2009 earnings forecast topped expectations. 

General Growth Properties (GAP) replaced its chief executive officer and president with two independent directors. The mall owner has suffered this year after taking on heavy amounts of debt.