The Associated Press

Stocks ended a wild day mostly lower Wednesday as indexes recovered much of an early plunge. Investors dumped risky assets in heavy trading and parked their money in investments seen as relatively safe, such as U.S. government bonds. The Dow Jones industrial average plummeted as much as 460 points in afternoon trading, then clawed back much of the ground it lost to close down 173.

On Wednesday:

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 173.45 points, or 1.1 percent, to 16,141.74.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 15.21 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,862.49.

The Nasdaq composite fell 11.85 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,215.32.

For the week:

The Dow Jones industrial average is down 402.36 points, or 2.4 percent.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is down 43.64 points, or 2.3 percent.

The Nasdaq composite is down 60.92 points, or 1.4 percent.

For the year:

The Dow is down 434.92 points, or 2.6 percent.

The S&P 500 index is up 14.13 points, or 0.8 percent.

The Nasdaq is up 38.73 points, or 0.9 percent.

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