Dow closes 525 points lower and S&P 500 stares down first correction since March as stock market hits session low

Stocks faced heavy selling Wednesday, pushing the main equity benchmarks to approach lows achieved earlier in the week as investors' appetite for assets perceived as risky appeared to abate. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.19% closed 525 points, or 1.9%,lower at 26,763, around its low for the day, while the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.29% declined 2.4% to 3,237, threatening to push the index closer to correction at 3,222.76 for the first time since March. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.36% retreated 3% to reach 10,633, deepening its slide in correction territory, defined as a drop of at least 10% from a recent peak.