U.S. Stocks Sharply Down on Economic Worries, Euro Zone Debt

Stocks are plunging in Thursday following a dismal U.S. jobs report from Friday and worsening fears about the Euro Zone debt crisis.

As of 12:40 p.m. EST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down about 233 points, or 2.1 percent; while the S&P 500 has fallen 1.6 percent; and Nasdaq has slipped 1.5 percent.

However, all the major equity indices are above intra-day lows. At one point, the Dow was down by as much as 300 points.

Earlier, European indices finished mixed as the central bank of Switzerland intervened to slow down the sharp rise in its Swiss France currency.

The DAX of Germany and the CAC-40 both fell about 1 percent, however Britain's FTSE-100 rose 1 percent.

We've got troubles on both sides of the pond and it's hard for investors to get excited about stocks with so much uncertainty, said Art Hogan, managing director at Lazard Capital Markets, according to CNN.

In a flight to safety, the 10-Year Treasury yield has fallen below 2.00 percent, while gold futures are slightly higher.

Oil prices, a proxy for future economic growth, is down more than $2 per barrel (or 2.4 percent) to $84.37.

Investors are looking ahead to President Barack Obama’s jobs speech on Thursday, as well as comments by Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke on the same day.