Dow plunges 680 points

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Stocks tumbled Monday afternoon, with fears about the economy driving a selloff as manufacturing slumped to a 26-year low and the U.S. economy was officially declared to be a recession.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost about 680 points, or 7.7 percent, falling to 8,149, according to preliminary figures. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell about 80 points, or 8.9 percent, and the Nasdaq composite gave up 137.50 points, or nearly 9 percent.

Stocks sold off from the opening bell and continued sliding as the session wore on. The economic news and the official declaration of the recession added to the selling, but the market was already primed for a selloff after last week's run, analysts said.

After hitting multi-year lows a little over a week ago, the S&P 500 rallied 19 percent through last Friday, while the Dow and Nasdaq both gained just under 17 percent.

"We're going to continue to see this extreme volatility because there's no clear end in sight to all the crises," said Dean Barber, president at Barber Financial Group.