S&P dives to lowest level since 1997

By Leah Schnurr

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks plunged yet again on Thursday, as a frantic flight from risk prompted by investors' deepening economic fears drove the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index to its lowest level since 1997 -- completing the erasure of more than a decade of stock market gains.

The latest leg down in what has been a 13-month whipping of equities worldwide was led by the year's weakest links: banks, commodity producers and car makers.

The S&P 500 is now more than 52 percent below its October 2007 record high, making the current bear market the second biggest on record. The current decline is exceeded only by the 83 percent drop between 1930 and 1932, according to the Stock Trader's Almanac.

"People are looking for light at the end of the tunnel and people don't see anything," said Giri Cherukuri, head trader at OakBrook Investments LLC in Lisle, Illinois.

On Thursday, the price of oil hurtled below $50 a barrel, taking energy shares with it as dismal U.S. economic data intensified concerns of a long and deep global recession, crushing fuel demand expectations. Chevron (CVX.N) tumbled more than 8 percent and dragged the most on the Dow.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI plunged 444.99 points, or 5.56 percent, to 7,552.29. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX lost 54.14 points, or 6.71 percent, to 752.44. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC slid 70.30 points, or 5.07 percent, to 1,316.12.

DELL CLIMBS AFTER SOLID EARNINGS

But after the closing bell, a bright spot emerged when shares of Dell Inc (DELL.O) rose 6.3 percent to $10.43 after the world's No. 2 PC maker reported better-than-expected profit as cost cuts tempered lower revenue.