U.S. stocks fell Friday, closing out the market's biggest quarterly drop since the financial crisis with a triple-digit dive in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The blue-chip Dow shed 240.60 points, or 2.2%, to 10913.38, after a batch of glum overseas economic data weighed on investor sentiment.

Stocks sank into the close, finishing at session lows. The loss capped a 12% third-quarter decline for the Dow, the biggest percentage drop since the first quarter of 2009 and the biggest point fall since late 2008. The session also capped the measure's fifth straight monthly drop, the longest such streak since the six months ended in February 2009. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index shed 28.98 points, or 2.5%, to 1131.42, putting the broad measure's quarterly loss at 14%. The Nasdaq Composite tumbled 65.36 points, or 2.6%, to 2415.40, for a 13% quarterly fall. The two indexes each also posted their worst quarterly drop since late 2008.

S&P 500

The materials sector led all S&P 500 sectors lower, falling 3.7%. Financial stocks weren't far behind. Two of the Dow's three worst-performing stocks in the third quarter led the way lower Friday. Hewlett-Packard fell $1.33, or 5.6%, to 22.45, and Alcoa shed 49 cents, or 4.9%, to 9.57. Utilities and consumer staples, two sectors viewed as defensive, posted the smallest drops. A jump in the euro zone's annual inflation rate for September soured the tone of trading before U.S. markets opened, convincing many investors that the higher rate makes the European Central Bank less likely to lower interest rates. Concerns over weak Chinese manufacturing data also crimped stocks as traders closed out a difficult quarter.

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European Stock Markets

European shares dropped sharply Friday, with the Stoxx Europe 600 index posting a quarterly fall of more than 17%, as worries about rising inflation in the euro zone, weak German retail sales and contracting Chinese manufacturing activity all hurt sentiment. The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 1.2% to close at 226.18. For the third quarter, it dropped 17.1%. Among the biggest fallers, banks dropped across the board as the sovereign debt crisis remained at the forefront of investor worries. Societe Generale SA fell 5.1% in Paris. UBS downgraded the French bank to neutral from buy and said it has moved to a "stressed" valuation scenario for the stock. Deutsche Bank AG dropped 6.8% in Frankfurt. The two lenders were among the biggest fallers on their respective markets, with the German DAX 30 index down 2.4% to close at 5,502.02 and the French CAC 40 index falling 1.5% to end at 2,981.96. The German and French indexes both end the quarter down more than 25%.

Asia-Pacific Markets

Losses for banks and the rest of the market widened after an unexpected rise in consumer price inflation in the euro zone, which jumped to a 3% annual pace in September, from 2.5% in August. Luxury-goods companies were also among the worst performers amid worries over China, a key growth market for the sector. Data from China showed that the manufacturing sector contracted for the third straight month in September. Shares in Burberry Group PLC dropped 2.2% in London, helping pull the FTSE 100 index down 1.3% to 5,128.48.

Asian stock markets ended mixed Friday, capping a mercurial September with some of the heaviest selloffs since the 2008 Lehman Brothers collapse amid persistent concerns over Europe's debt crisis and the global economy. The cautious mood left the bigger stock markets in the region lower or flat, with shares in China dropping to their lowest levels in nearly 30 months amid pessimism about the world's second largest economy. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average and South Korea's Kospi Composite closed flat, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 2.3%, China's Shanghai Composite slipped 0.3% and India's Sensex lost 1.5%. Japan dropped 11.4% for the quarter, Hong Kong's fell 21%, the Sensex shed 13% and the Shanghai Composite declined 14.3%, marking some of the worst quarterly losses since the 2008 financial crisis.

Southeast Asian markets, which were among the hardest hit in the month as foreign funds pulled out on worries the West's problems will cripple growth, closed mixed Friday. Indonesian stocks were up 0.3%, Thai shares lost 1.1% and Singapore stocks slumped 1.2%. Soft data in the region Friday underscored investor fears about a double-dip recession for the global economy. Industrial production in Japan and South Korea was weaker than expected. Earlier, the HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index for September stayed at 49.9, steady from August's level, but still showing contraction in manufacturing activity.

Commodities

Base metals on the London Metal Exchange have closed another day sharply in the red after equities and the euro sank, with worries over global growth driving investors to the sidelines. LME three-month copper ended Friday's PM kerb at $7,018 a metric ton, down 2.9% on the day-earlier close. It was down 4.6% for the week. Oil futures tumbled to their lowest level in more than a year Friday after a move below the psychologically important $80-a-barrel level sparked a late selloff. Light, sweet crude for November delivery settled down $2.94, or 3.58%, at $79.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a new 52-week low and the lowest settlement price since Sept. 29, 2010. Brent crude on the ICE Futures Europe exchange settled off $1.63, or 1.4%, at $102.32 a barrel. Prices, down slightly for most of the day, began a deep slide in the final 25 minutes of the session. Once the $80 level was breached, automatic sell orders kicked in and accentuated the fall. Gold futures ended slightly higher, in a happy note to the metal's worst month in three years. The most active contract, for December delivery, settled up $5.00, or 0.3%, at $1,622.30 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. However, gold prices fell 11% in September, their worst decline since October 2008 when prices tumbled about 19% on the month.

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