Stocks are getting crushed
After opening higher on Wednesday, stocks are nosediving in late-afternoon trading.
Around 2:50 p.m. ET, the Dow had fallen by as many as 370 points. The S&P 500 dropped below 1,900. And, the Nasdaq's drop was most pronounced, by about 3%, while the other two indexes were down about 2%.
Crude oil also fell after an early rally, with Brent crude, the international benchmark, dropping below $30 per barrel for the first time since April 2004.
Stocks opened higher for trading on Wednesday as crude oil made a rebound from the lows it reached in the previous session.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up nearly 3%, rising to as high as $31.55 per barrel, after falling to a 12-year low below $30 on Tuesday. It was the first time in eight trading sessions that oil was higher, with the commodity now down about 15% for the first few days of 2016.
China has been the other big story of the year so far and a major dampener on markets. But we actually got some good news on Wednesday, as China's trade surplus was reported to have widened last month to $60 billion amid a recovery in exports.
Here's how the major indexes performed into late-afternoon trading:Google Finance
This post is being updated ...