Stocks and oil prices plummeted Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial tumbling 800 points -- the fourth largest daily point drop on record and the worst this year -- as increasing global recession fears drove Wall Street investors to the safety of U.S. government debt.

The yield, or interest rate, of the Treasury’s 2-year note exceeded the yield on the 10-year Treasury, an ominous signal, known as an inverted yield curve, that a recession is on the way.

Feeding fears of a global recession was a report that Chinese industrial production was climbing at its weakest rate in 17 years and Germany’s economy -- Europe’s strongest -- was actually shrinking.

Ticker Security Last Change %Chg
I:DJI DOW JONES AVERAGES 25479.42 -800.49 -3.05%
SP500 S&P 500 2840.6 -85.72 -2.93%
I:COMP NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX 7773.939028 -242.42 -3.02%
Gold, often seen as a haven for investor assets, settled 0.91 percent at $1,515.90, a 52-week high and the highest level in more than six years.