The Dow Drops 264 Points; Biggest Rout Since July

The big comeback the Dow enjoyed on Wednesday got flushed away today, and strategists have few simple answers to explain the blood bath.

U.S. stocks tumbled sharply amid worries about global growth and political tensions, ending with the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffering its biggest one-day loss since July.

The Dow sank 264 points, or 1.54%, to end the day at 16,945, while the S&P 500 fell 32 points, or 1.62%, to close at 1965.99.

The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, fell 88.47 points, or 1.9% to close at 4,466.75.

What's to blame? Take you pick of issues from the conflict in Syria and worries about Russia seizing foreign assets to concerns about the global economy, U.S. interest rates and weak durable goods orders.

Regardless, investors fled from stocks, opting to play it safe with Treasuries. The yield on the 10-year note fell to TK as prices rose.

TheCBOE Volatility Index (^VIX), a measure of investor uncertainty, jumped 21% to 16.05. The price of gold, meanwhile, turned higher.

The selloff wasn't limited to Blue Chips. Small cap stocks also suffered, sending the Russell 2000 index falling 18 point, or 1.6% to end at 1,110.24.

In afterhours market action: shares of Nike (NKE) rose 5.5% to $84.12 after hours after the athletic apparel giant posted quarterly results that beat expectations.

Diamond Foods (DMND) rose 6% to $28.25 after posting fiscal fourth quarter financial results.

General Motors (GM) rose 0.5% to $33.04 after hours Thursday after Standard & Poor’s raised the auto maker’s credit rating back above the investment-grade threshold.