Stocks Extend Selloff; Dow Briefly Falls 300 Points

Losses for U.S. stock indexes accelerated in afternoon trade Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly logging a loss of more than 300 points. The Dow was down 265 points, or 1.5%, at 17,465 in recent action. The S&P 500 was down 1.6% at 2,046, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.9% to 5,017. Analysts blamed pressure on stocks and government bonds on expectations the Federal Reserve will move to hike interest rates later this month as well as disappointment in the size of additional stimulus unveiled by the European Central Bank early Thursday.