Worries about the severity of a global recession, and the bleak outlook for profits, have sent US stocks plunging again.

The stocks closed on Monday at their lowest levels in five and a half years.

Trading was volatile and volume was light, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average sliding more than two hundred points to close at 8,175 points, its lowest close since April 2003.

The S&P's 500 Index also went down to close at 850 points, its lowest close since March 2003.

The Nasdaq Composite Index was down nearly 3 percent, at over 1,500, its lowest close since May 2003. Oil prices meanwhile fell about 1 dollar to settle at 63 US dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, an 18-month low.