Boston blasts, China data rock US stocks

Explosions in Boston and disappointing China economic growth rocked US stocks Monday, sending the broad-market S&P 500 down 2.30 percent to 1,552.37. Amid sharp sell-offs in commodities like oil and gold, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 265.94 points (1.79 percent) to 14,599.12 at the closing bell. The Nasdaq Composite shed 30.64 (1.94 percent at 1,546.58. The deadly explosions at the Boston Marathon finish line, just before 3:00 pm (1900 GMT), apparently shook an already bearish market. In the final hour of trade following the blasts, the S&P 500 shed about 14 points of its 36.50-point dive, or 38 percent of the day's loss.