Stocks End Sharply Lower; Dow Skids 1.5%

Stocks closed broadly lower Wednesday as the dollar jumped following worries over the exacerbating Greek debt situation and after a handful of dismal economic news.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 178.84 points, or 1.48 percent, to close at 11,897.27.

The blue-chip index has declined almost 5.5 percent since the beginning of the month. Since 1950, the Dow has been down more than 5 percent halfway into a month 30 times. When that happened, the index almost always finished in the red for the month.

And if the Dow does finish down this month, it will be its first back-to-back monthly declines since May/June 2010.

Read more