US sharemarkets tanked towards the end a volatile trading day that saw the Dow shed over three percent in the last half hour to end Thursday 5.39 percent down.

At the close of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 430.90 points, or 5.39 percent, to close at 7,566.38, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index shed 49.17 points, or 6.10 percent, to close at 757.41.

The technology-based Nasdaq composite lost 59.03 points, or 4.26 percent, to close at 1,327.39.

Stocks were hit by a news that the Senate called off a vote on a proposed US$25 billion bailout package for the ailing US car manufacturing industry due to lack of support.

The market was also dampened by a government report revealing that the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment jumped last week to 542,000, its highest level in 16 years, while the number collecting unemployment benefits approached a 26-year high.

More negative economic news came from the November Philadelphia Fed index, a regional read on manufacturing, which fell more than expected to negative 39.3 from negative 37.5 in October.

Oil is now trading at the lowest levels since January 2003 as the price fell US$2.99 on the New York Mercantile Exchange to close at to $50.63 per barrel after briefly falling below US$50.

The price of gold gained US$13.20 to be worth US$749.20 an ounce on the COMEX index, while in currency trading, the dollar fell against both the euro and the yen.

© NewsRoom 2008