The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished a wild Wednesday sharply lower, but the stock market recouped much of the losses that briefly sent the Dow tumbling more than 450 points. 
 
 Heavy waves of selling hit stocks early on Wednesday, marking an acceleration of the recent selloff sparked by fears of a global economic slowdown, dangerously low inflation in Europe and ripples from a steep drop in oil prices. 
 
 The Dow industrials declined 173.45 points, or 1.1%, to close at 16141.74, but earlier the index had declined as many as 460 points. 
 
 U.S. stocks tumbled on Wednesday, driving the Dow down over 300 points. What can calm the markets? Silvercrest's Patrick Chovanec discusses with Sara Murray. Photo: Getty 
 
 Recently hard-hit corners of the market rebounded to finish in positive territory. The Russell 2000 Index of small U.S. companies turned positive to finish up 1% after a stretch of sharp declines. Energy stocks also rallied. 
 
 Traders said wide swings across stock and bond markets appeared to be magnified by hedge funds frantically looking to exit money-losing investments. Wednesday’s dismal trading had the hallmarks of forced selling by managers who were pressured to unwind risky bets that were losing money fast. 
 
 After days of persistent selling, buyers materialized Wednesday afternoon to boost the market off its lows in trading volume that was the heaviest in nearly three years, with 11.77 billion shares changing hands. 
 
 “Late in the day here I think we’re seeing stronger hands starting to take positions based on valuations,” said Eric Schlanger, head of equities for the Americas at Barclays. 
 
 The S&P 500 fell 15.21 points, or 0.8%, to 1862.69, while the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 11.85 points, or 0.3%, to 4215.32. Since hitting an all-time high on Sept. 18, the S&P 500 is down 7.4%. 
 
 Phil Orlando, chief equity strategist at Federated Investors, which manages $350 billion, told some of the firm’s biggest clients on a conference call this morning not to panic despite the recent downdraft. 
 
 “I see the noise and it’s ugly,” Mr. Orlando said. “But understand the big picture: if you’re a long-term investor with the ability to look out beyond a few years, you’ll look back and say, this was a chance to pick up stocks I missed on the way up.” 
 
 As stocks sold off, investors flocked to safe-haven government bonds, though bond yields rose off of earlier lows. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note dropped to 2.091%, from 2.206% late on Tuesday, after briefly falling below 2% for the first time since June 2013. Yields fall as prices rise. 
 
 Swings extended to U.S. crude-oil futures, where prices extended recent losses to settle down 0.1% to $81.78 a barrel. 
 
 “A lot of people, even the most experienced guys, are dazed by this price action,” said Michael Purves, head of equity derivatives research at Weeden & Co. 
 
 In recent weeks, traders have said flows have been dominated by short-term traders and hedge funds with high-conviction bets in the energy sector and other hard-hit corners of the market. Other investors who generate buy and sell signals from readings of market momentum have been flipping from stock exchange-traded funds into bonds or cash, traders have said. 
 
 After falling early Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was on track for a five-session losing streak. Traders work the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Associated Press 
 
 Further evidence of concentrated losses appeared after pharmaceutical company AbbVie Inc. ABBV +0.89% AbbVie Inc. U.S.: NYSE $53.37 +0.47 +0.89% Volume (Delayed 15m) : 31.75M AFTER HOURS $53.37 0.00 % Volume (Delayed 15m) : 140,562 P/E Ratio 20.53 Market Cap $84.20 Billion Dividend Yield 3.15% Rev. per Employee $770,320 10/17/14 Holman Jenkins: How Obama Kill... 10/17/14 Dept. of Irony: AbbVie Can Tak... 10/17/14 Quote of the Week: AbbVie’s Ab... More quote details and news » ABBV in Your Value Your Change Short position said it was reconsidering its planned $54 billion purchase of Shire SHPG +0.39% Shire PLC ADS U.S.: Nasdaq $179.16 +0.70 +0.39% Volume (Delayed 15m) : 4.29M AFTER HOURS $178.70 -0.46 -0.25% Volume (Delayed 15m) : 205,989 P/E Ratio 30.34 Market Cap $35.12 Billion Dividend Yield 0.13% Rev. per Employee $1,046,870 10/17/14 Holman Jenkins: How Obama Kill... 10/17/14 Dept. of Irony: AbbVie Can Tak... 10/17/14 Deals of the Day: Scars From A... More quote details and news » SHPG in Your Value Your Change Short position PLC because of new U.S. tax rules. Shares of AbbVie rose 0.9% in New York, while Shire tumbled 22% in London. 
 
 Traders said the drop has affected many hedge funds that had crowded into Shire. As of Sept. 24, the top eight hedge-fund holders of Shire shares had some $8 billion in investments riding on the deal, according to regulatory filings. 
 
 “There’s a lot of pain out there,” said Dave Lutz, head of exchange-traded fund trading at JonesTrading Institutional Services. 
 
 Shares of airlines fell sharply after reports that the second Texas health-care worker to be diagnosed with Ebola flew from Cleveland to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport the night before she reported symptoms, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. United Continental Holdings Inc. UAL +2.08% United Continental Holdings Inc. U.S.: NYSE $44.68 +0.91 +2.08% Volume (Delayed 15m) : 4.64M AFTER HOURS $44.58 -0.10 -0.22% Volume (Delayed 15m) : 2,107 P/E Ratio 23.52 Market Cap $16.19 Billion Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee $443,471 10/15/14 U.S. Stocks Slide But Come Off... 10/15/14 For Ebola’s Market Impact, Fol... 10/14/14 Market Swoon Bruises Some Hedg... More quote details and news » UAL in Your Value Your Change Short position fell 1.4%, while Delta Air Lines Inc. DAL +3.21% Delta Air Lines Inc. U.S.: NYSE $34.39 +1.07 +3.21% Volume (Delayed 15m) : 21.39M AFTER HOURS $34.60 +0.21 +0.61% Volume (Delayed 15m) : 115,098 P/E Ratio 2.95 Market Cap $28.09 Billion Dividend Yield 1.05% Rev. per Employee $511,298 10/16/14 Delta Air Lines Sees No Effect... 10/16/14 Morning MoneyBeat: Was That Ca... 10/16/14 How Asian Airlines’ Pricey New... More quote details and news » DAL in Your Value Your Change Short position declined 1.2%. 
 
 In recent weeks, investors have said that they were looking forward to third-quarter corporate earnings season to deflect the market’s focus from growth concerns, Fed worries and headlines about the Middle East or the Ebola virus. 
 
 But these same headlines have stolen the show as major U.S. companies post their quarterly reports. 
 
 Bank of America Corp. BAC +0.81% Bank of America Corp. U.S.: NYSE $16.21 +0.13 +0.81% Volume (Delayed 15m) : 91.63M AFTER HOURS $16.21 0.00 % Volume (Delayed 15m) : 2.71M P/E Ratio 37.70 Market Cap $169.10 Billion Dividend Yield 1.23% Rev. per Employee $398,702 10/17/14 The Bond Market 10/17/14 Morgan Stanley’s 3Q Financial ... 10/16/14 U.S. to Boost Security for Gov... More quote details and news » BAC in Your Value Your Change Short position fell 4.6% after reporting a third-quarter profit of $168 million versus $2.5 billion a year ago. The bank posted a per-share loss of a penny, beating expectations. 
 
 Before the opening bell, the Empire State’s business conditions index fell to 6.17 in October from 27.54 in September, while retail sales fell 0.3% in September from August to $442.7 billion. 
 
 Separately, the U.S. producer-price index fell 0.1% in September from August, the Labor Department said. The surprise decline was the first in more than a year, and economists had expected a 0.1% increase. 
 
 —Corrie Driebusch, Saumya Vaishampayan and Alexandra Scaggs contributed to this article. 
 
 Write to Chris Dieterich at christopher.dieterich@wsj.com ||||| Stocks plummeted on global-growth fears for a second straight day Friday in a plunge that dragged the Dow industrials into correction territory. 
 
 The global market rout pummeled stocks and commodities as fresh evidence emerged that China’s economy is slowing, spooking investors. 
 
 The Dow industrials lost 530.94 points, or 3.1%, to close at 16459.75, putting it in correction territory, as defined by a 10% decline from a recent high. The S&P 500 dropped 64.84 points, or 3.2%, to close at 1970.89. The Nasdaq Composite fell 3.5%, or 171.45 points, to 4706.04. 
 
 The Dow’s more than 1,000-point drop this week was the largest weekly drop since the week ended Oct. 10, 2008. 
 
 Related Video U.S. stocks tumbled on Friday as the Dow industrials plunged 531 points, dragging the index into correction territory. WSJ's Geoff Rogow and Barron's Jack Hough discuss what's spooking investors and the outlook for global markets in the week ahead. Photo: Getty 
 
 U.S. oil prices also briefly dropped below $40 a barrel on Friday, a level not seen since the financial crisis. 
 
 Signs of a sharp slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy have unnerved investors since Beijing surprised markets last week by devaluing its currency. Shares in the U.S., Asia and Europe have tumbled, along with commodity prices as investors fretted about waning Chinese demand just as supplies are surging. 
 
 The market turmoil has some traders exercising caution. 
 
 “You have a situation that’s tough to play,” said Christopher Cady, a New York-based trader. He said he closed out bets toward the end of the week that U.S. stocks would fall. “Nimble…is the new black.” 
 
 The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 ended the session 3.3% lower, closing out its biggest week of losses since August 2011. The index has now lost nearly 13% since its April peak, entering correction territory. 
 
 Earlier, the Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 4.3%, hitting its lowest level since March, despite Beijing’s efforts to prop up the market in recent weeks. In Japan, the Nikkei fell 3% to a six-week low. 
 
 An early gauge of China’s factory activity fell to a six-and-a-half year low in August, heaping further pressure on stocks and commodities after Thursday’s global selloff. 
 
 “Now we’ve had some harder evidence that China is slowing relatively fast, people have chosen to get out,” said Kiran Ganesh, a multiasset strategist at UBS Wealth Management, which oversees around $2 trillion of assets. 
 
 A surge in investor demand for assets considered safest during times of market stress sent the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds to 2.042%, its lowest level since April. Yields fall as bond prices rise. 
 
 The dollar fell by around 1% against the euro and Japan’s yen. The euro and yen have recently tended to rise during times of market stress. 
 
 Some investors and analysts say they think the tumult in the markets could complicate the Federal Reserve’s plans to raise interest rates. 
 
 “The Chinese have created an air of fragility around the globe. Markets will now surely have to firm up considerably for the Fed to pull the trigger next month,” said Deutsche Bank analyst Jim Reid. 
 
 Ultralow interest rates have fueled a big rally in stock markets since the financial crisis. On Wednesday, minutes of the Fed’s latest policy meeting showed officials were divided over when to raise rates, with some citing concerns over China’s economy as a reason to hold back. 
 
 But a delay in lifting rates may bring little comfort to investors if slowing global growth is underpinning the Fed’s caution. 
 
 Paul O’Connor, a senior fund manager at Henderson Global Investors, which manages £82 billion ($129 billion) in assets, said he has been selling stocks and buying bonds in recent months, fearing further spillover from the recent Chinese selloff. 
 
 “Is there a buying opportunity in stuff that has got beaten up, or will it start to erode confidence in developed market assets? We’re in the latter camp,” he said. 
 
 Global equities suffered $8.3 billion of outflows in the week ended Thursday, representing the worst week in almost four months, according to data from Bank of America Merrill Lynch published Friday. Losses were particularly heavy in the emerging markets and the U.S. 
 
 The recent rout in commodity markets continued Friday as fears over waning Chinese demand intensified. 
 
 Oil prices extended their recent declines. Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, fell 2.5% to around $45.48 a barrel, its lowest level since January. The U.S. benchmark settled down 2.1% at $40.45 a barrel. 
 
 Industrial metals prices also fell as the Chinese data reignited worries about the future pace of demand from the world’s top consumer. 
 
 “Commodity markets are telling us this is quite serious,” said Neil Dwane, head of European equities at Allianz Global Investors, which oversees EUR412 billion ($463 billion) of assets. 
 
 --Chiara Albanese, Christopher Whittall, Josie Cox and Ese Erheriene contributed to this article. 
 
 Write to Leslie Josephs at leslie.josephs@wsj.com and Tommy Stubbington at tommy.stubbington@wsj.com ||||| Wall Street suffered one of its most volatile sessions in years Monday, with the Dow industrials plunging more than 1,000 points in the opening minutes, bouncing back to recover most of the losses and then fading into the final bell to record the biggest drop in four years. 
 
 Meanwhile the main benchmark S&P 500 slipped into correction territory, having fallen more than 10% from its peak reached on May 21. 
 
 “Short-term fear of the unknown is still in the driver’s seat, I would expect more volatility in the coming weeks,” said Kate Warne, investment strategist at Edward Jones. 
 
 Indeed, Monday’s trading session saw the main indexes plunge by more than 5%. Nearly 14 billion shares changed hands on Monday, the largest volume since August 10, 2011. 
 
 Investors remained concerned about global growth in the face of plummeting commodity prices and slowing growth in China, the second largest economy in the world. 
 
 The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.75% ended the day down 588.47 points, or 3.6%, at 15,871.28—its lowest settlement since February 2014. All 30 members of the Dow finished the day in negative territory. 
 
 The S&P 500 SPX, +0.85% dropped 77.68 points, or 3.9%, to 1,893.21, the lowest level since October 2014. The index is down 8% year to date. Nearly all 500 members of the index closed with a loss. 
 
 Both the Dow and the S&P 500 scored their biggest one-day percentage declines since August 2011. 
 
 The Nasdaq Composite COMP, +1.29% ended the day down 179.79 points, or 3.8% at 4,526.25. 
 
 “Trading volumes are driven by ETFs today, but we are not seeing a lot of panic, where people dump large amounts of stocks in one go. There are still buyers out there, who are picking up stocks that have seen large corrections. However, volatility is back, so seeing large intraday and day-to-day swings is not surprising,” said Brian Fenske, head of sales trading at ITG. 
 
 Sal Arnuk, co-head of equity trading at Themis Trading, described Monday’s open as painful. “There’s definitely blood on the street. You can check the level of the VIX,” Arnuk said. 
 
 Implied volatility on the S&P 500, as measured by the CBOE Volatility Index VIX, -7.78% jumped to 38, significantly above the long-term average of 20. Investors piled into Treasurys, briefly pushing the yield on the 10-year note below 2%. Bond yields move inversely to prices. 
 
 Many investors expected the People’s Bank of China to take some action over the weekend to support the financial system. In the absence of any move, a brutal bout of selling overtook markets. The Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, +0.39% closed down 8.5%. 
 
 Read: Investors haven’t been this terrified since 2009 
 
 Ric Edelman, chief executive officer and chairman of Edelman Financial Services, said that his firm hasn't experienced a barrage of calls from panicky clients. 
 
 “It appears that most of the selling is done by algorithms and institutional investors rather than retail investors. We think that’s because retail investors have learned their lesson of 2008: that the best thing to do at a time like this is nothing,” Edelman said. 
 
 Stocks to Watch: Shares of Apple Inc. AAPL, +3.31% switched between big losses and big gains. Share closed down 2.5%, after opening down more than 4.3%. The stock entered bear-market territory on Friday. 
 
 Energy stocks suffered as the U.S. crude benchmark CLV5, +0.00% struggled to hold above $38 a barrel. 
 
 But AGL Resources Inc. US:GAS soared 28% after the energy company received a $12 billion buyout bid from Southern Company. SO, -0.96% 
 
 Read more in Movers & Shakers. 
 
 NIK, +0.97% Other markets: In addition to the Shanghai Composite’s heavy losses, the Nikkei 225 index NIK, +0.97% slid 4.6%, pressured by a strong Japanese yen. Investors flocked to the perceived safe haven of the yen, pushing the dollar USDJPY, -0.08% and other rivals lower. 
 
 Read: China shares wipe out 2015 gains as stocks tumble 8.5% 
 
 In Europe, stocks followed Asia’s lead as the Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 5.3%, falling deeper into correction mode. 
 
 Gold prices US:GCZ5 failed to score any gains on Monday, despite its reputation as a refuge in times of market turmoil. The yellow metal fell 0.5% to settle at $1,153.60 an ounce. 
 
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– It was bad this morning, and it got downright ugly this afternoon: The Dow finished the day down 531 points, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 were similarly hammered, reports the TheStreet. The Dow fell more than 300 points yesterday, making this the biggest two-day drop since the financial crisis. Investors are "spooked" over China's economic troubles, and it's taking a toll on both stocks and commodities, reports the Wall Street Journal. At one point today, oil dipped below $40 a barrel, which it hasn't done since the crisis. The final numbers: The Dow fell 531 (3.12%) to close at 16,460, the Nasdaq fell 171 (3.52%) and the S&P fell 65 (3.18%). One school of thought is that this is a necessary "cleansing," as an analyst puts it at MarketWatch. "I know that everyone likes to think crash when the proverbial stuff hits the fan, but a cleansing is a good thing—not a bad one," writes LA Little. "What is being said here is a correction—not a bear market—might just be the outcome when it is all said and done."