U.S. stocks fell further on Wednesday and the S&P 500 briefly fell 2 percent, after disappointing new home sales data sparked worries about the strength of the economic recovery, prompting a sell-off.

The financial sector led declines, and shares in the materials sectors were among the worst hit as the U.S. dollar rose 0.5 percent against a basket of currencies <.DXY> and sent commodity prices lower.

The Reuters/Jefferies CRB index of commodities <.CRB> fell

2 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> lost 108.83 points, or 1.10 percent, to 9,773.34. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> fell 19.55 points, or 1.84 percent, to 1,043.86. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> dropped 54.13 points, or 2.56 percent, to 2,061.96.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Jan Paschal)