Dow drops 200 points on lackluster economic news

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are slumping in early afternoon trading, putting the market on course for its third straight day of losses.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 203 points, or 1.2 percent, to 16,839 as of 12:54 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 18 points, or 0.9 percent, to 1,953. The Nasdaq fell 57 points, or 1.3 percent, to 4,435.

A closely watched index of U.S. manufacturing fell last month. Airlines stocks slid as investors feared that news of the first Ebola case in the U.S. might discourage travel. American Airlines and Delta each fell 3 percent.

Still, the market remains close to all-time highs reached last month.

Government bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.41 percent from 2.49 Tuesday.