Wall Street slides as auto bailout anxiety weighs

JPMorgan Chase was the Dow's biggest drag, falling 9.9 percent to $30.20. A sell-off in the bank's shares accelerated after the company's chief executive told CNBC the November quarter was difficult and that the December quarter so far was "terrible".

"It reiterates how difficult this market is and how the real economy is weighing down on financial stocks," said Giri Cherukuri, head trader at OakBrook Investments in Lisle, Illinois, of the comments.

"It's continuing news that the world really hasn't changed. It's still a tough world out there."

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 199.60 points, or 2.28 percent, at 8,561.82. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> fell 24.19 points, or 2.69 percent, to 875.05. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> lost 53.06 points, or 3.39 percent, to 1,512.42.

The fate of a $14 billion package of loans for automakers, including General Motors Corp and Ford Motor Co , hung in the air in the U.S. Senate, a day after it passed the U.S. House of Representatives.

The White House urged skeptical Senate Republicans to back the bill, but Republicans appear to have more than enough votes to stop the bailout with a procedural roadblock.

Shares of General Motors slid 10.9 percent to $4.10, while Ford lost nearly 9 percent at $2.96. Investors fear that without government help, a potential failure or bankruptcy of one of Detroit's Big Three could send shock waves through the economy and make the country's unemployment rate even worse.

On the upside, Chevron gave the Dow its biggest boost, rising 1.1 percent to $79.37, followed closely by Exxon Mobil , which added 0.8 percent to $80.69. A report from the International Energy Agency forecast global oil demand will rebound next year, sending January crude oil futures up $4.46 to settle at $47.98 a barrel.

(Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Editing by Jan Paschal)

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