Q: In this task, you are given a text of many news articles seperated by special token "|||||". Your task is to summarize them.
Stocks tumbled as steep declines in gold and other commodity prices fueled a selloff after worse-than-expected data on Chinese and U.S. economic growth. 
  
 The plunge on Monday began during Asian hours and spread around the globe. Late in the day, news of explosions at the site of the Boston Marathon added to market jitters. 
  
 Stocks continued to slide on the back of worries about economic growth in China and a steep tumble in commodity prices. John Shipman reports. 
  
 But for most of the day, attention was centered on the dive in gold prices. For the second straight session, gold plummeted, losing $140.40, or 9.4%, to settle at $1360.60 a troy ounce. The drop was the largest one-day percentage fall since February 1983. Monday's decline brought the two-day losses to $203.70, or 13%. 
  
 Traders reported talk of investors selling stocks to raise cash in response to losses on gold positions. 
  
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 The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 265.86 points, or 1.8%, to 14599.20. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index slipped 36.49 points, or 2.3%, to 1552.36, and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 78.46 points, or 2.4%, to 3216.49. Total stock-trading volume across all major U.S. exchanges was its highest this year, with 8.36 billion shares changing hands, the most since Dec. 21. 
  
 As investors exited riskier investments, small-company stocks were particularly hard hit. The Russell 2000 index shed 3.8%, to 907.21, its worst point and percentage decline since November 2011. 
  
 For weeks, stocks have defied expectations for a pullback and on many days, an early selloff was pared by the end of trading. But Monday's retreat saw the Dow industrials sink into the close and mark their worst one-day point and percentage decline since Nov. 7. 
  
 Declines in commodity-linked sectors far outpaced losses in other categories on Monday. Shares in the materials and energy sectors both declined 3.9%. Mining company Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold was the biggest decliner in the S&P 500, shedding $2.65, or 8.3%, to $29.27. 
  
 "When you talk about the sectors that are leading on the way down, they're all commodity-backed in some fashion," said Will Bertsch, head of U.S. equity trading for BMO Capital Markets. At the same time, Monday saw a sharp rise in exchange-traded-fund trading volume. "We think that speaks to investors putting on hedges," by selling ETFs, Mr. Bertsch said. 
  
 Among ETFs Monday, there was record trading volume in the SPDR Gold Trust, which tracks the price of physical gold. More than 93 million shares of the ETF changed hands, shattering the previous record of 79 million. 
  
 Despite the turmoil, traders said stock trading was smooth. "Ironically, it's not as busy as you would expect when you see moves like this," said Mr. Bertsch. 
  
 Enlarge Image Close Getty Images The selloff began in Asia and spread around the globe, sparked by disappointing Chinese data. Above, traders at the Big Board on Monday. 
  
 Helping kick off the selling was data showing China's economy expanded 7.7% in the first quarter. That fell short of expectations of 8%. Data on Chinese industrial production for March also missed forecasts. The Shanghai Composite Index declined 1.1% to its lowest level this year, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.4%. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average pulled back 1.6%. 
  
 "Commodities can't appreciate without China being strong," said Jeffrey Sica, chief investment officer and founder of SICA Wealth Management, which invests in gold. He said he was sitting on his positions but "wouldn't want to be among the first to try to call a bottom here." 
  
 He said the corresponding selloff in stocks could be a sign that large investment funds are selling stockholdings to cover losses. "What's important to realize is how much gold is used as collateral," he said. 
  
 "I think a lot of hedge funds were long gold, and holding out for a move up with all the money-printing that's going on" by global central banks, said Viren Chandrasoma, U.S. head of program trading at Credit Suisse Group AG. "That has not come to pass…as soon as it started to look shaky, people were heading to the exits." Investors tend to buy the metal as a hedge against the inflation that may follow the increased liquidity in the financial system from monetary easing. 
  
 In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.7%, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down 0.6%. 
  
 Silver prices dropped 11%, to $23.3550 an ounce. Crude oil also declined, with prices slumping 2.8%, to $88.71 a barrel. The dollar rose against the euro and fell against the yen. Meanwhile, demand rose for the haven 10-year Treasury note, pushing the yield down to 1.702%. 
  
 Also weighing on stocks were two reports on the U.S. economy that came in worse than expected. 
  
 The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that manufacturing barely expanded in the New York region this month, as the business-conditions index declined more than expected. Separately, home builders' confidence fell for the third straight month, on expectations of a rise. 
  
 Write to Alexandra Scaggs at alexandra.scaggs@dowjones.com 
  
 A version of this article appeared April 16, 2013, on page C4 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Dow's Plunge Is Its Worst Since November. ||||| NEW YORK ( TheStreet ) -- Thesuffered its largest loss in five months as two explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon left dozens injured. The blasts occurred before the close of trading, with global commodity prices already pressured by a less-than-expected rise in Chinese growth. 
  
 Thefell 2.3% to 1,552.36, the most since Nov. 7, as police and emergency crews labored to rescue victims of the tragedy. 
  
 Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis said simultaneous explosions occurred around 2:50 p.m. ET within 50 and 100 yards of each other, causing multiple casualties. Davis wouldn't confirm a number for casualties, but other media reports have suggested that as many as 12 people died in the blasts. 
  
 Earlier in the trading session, reports came that China, the world's second-largest economy, grew 7.7% in the first quarter, trailing economist projections. China's economy expanded 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Economists were expecting an increase in the first quarter of 8%, according to apoll. 
  
 "The explosions at the Boston Marathon pretty much added to the negative sentiment because it's such an uncertainty," said Sam Stovall, S&P's New York-based chief equity strategist. "First off, it's a tragedy, you feel for the people who were there . . . the next question is could there be more things there or elsewhere, and those kind of worries are very very hard to factor in to equity prices." 
  
 According to ABC, Massachusetts General Hospital had received at least 4 patients from the explosion. There are various reports of several people having lost limbs during the explosion, though nothing is confirmed at this time. Reports of the casualty count are varying as information is being released and updated. Boston Police is tweeting that two people have died, while 22 are injured. 
  
 Theis reporting that two additional explosive devices were found, but are now being disarmed. The Boston Marathon headquarters is on lockdown, according to reports. 
  
 The explosions took place as global markets were already down on reports showing that industrial output in China, the world's second-largest economy, had missed expectations, prompting an early-morning sell-off in commodities. June gold futures plummeted $140.30 to settle at $1,361.10 an ounce, and mining stocks were hit especially hard. FCX ) tumbling 8.3% and RIO ) slumping 5.9%. 
  
 May crude oil futures shed $2.58 to close at $88.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The Hong Kong Hang Seng index dropped 1.43% and Nikkei 225 in Japan gave up 1.55%. The FTSE 100 in the U.K. was fell 0.64% and the DAX in Germany fell off 0.41%. 
  
 U.S. first-quarter earnings news had begun on an encouraging note Monday with C ) rising as much as 3.4% after the bank reported afor fixed income and equity trading. 
  
 Yet investor caution rose as the New York Federal Reserve reported that New York manufacturing activity in April had weakened as a general business conditions index fell six points to 3.1 even as it remained positive for a third straight month. Economists surveyed bywere predicting a reading of 7. 
  
 Additionally, the National Association of Home Builders said Monday that rising costs for building materials and growing concerns about the supply of developed lots and labor led to less confidence among home builders in the market for newly built, single-family homes in April, with the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index showing a two-point drop to 42 vs. the consensus expectation of 45. 
  
 Thedeclined 1.8% to 14,599.20 while thedropped 2.4% to 3,216.49. 
  
 U.S. dollar index. The trading day was punctuated by two high-profile acquisitions. Thermo Fisher Scientific ( TMO), the lab equipment giant located in the Boston suburb of Waltham, gained as much as 6.2% after announcing a deal to acquire genetic testing equipment maker Life Technologies ( LIFE) for $76 a share in cash or about $13.6 billion, making the deal one of the largest corporate takeovers of the year. By day's end, Thermo Fisher was down 1.3% to $78.58. Life Technologies gained 7.5% to $73.11. Sprint Nextel ( S), the country's third-largest mobile phone operator, surged 14% to $7.06 after satellite-TV provider Dish Network ( DISH) offered to acquire the U.S. wireless carrier for $25.5 billion in cash and stock. The buyout offer could frustrate Japanese carrier Softbank's efforts to buy Sprint, or create a bidding war that might benefit investors. Dish fell 2.3% to $36.77. The longer-term impact of the Boston explosions remained unclear. The apparent attack took place on a day when investors were already digesting reports indicating that all is not well in the global economy despite the S&P 500's 11.4% advance for 2013 before Monday. Global market reaction in the days ahead is more likely to be a product of investor sentiment about the strength or weakness of the world economy than the events in Boston, said Michael Shaoul, chairman of New York-based Marketfield Asset Management LLC. The 2004 Madrid commuter train and 2005 London subway terrorist attacks occurred at a time when the global economy was largely stable, he said, and markets rebounded shortly after both of those incidents. "If we're looking at what happened today through a simple financial prism, it isn't likely to be a determinant of where any of the major market prices are going to be in the week's ahead,'' Shaoul said in a phone interview. "Yet gold collapsed on a day in which you had poor Chinese data, so it's possible that this adds to an already unfolding story. Conversely, Madrid and London were really bad terrorist attacks in the middle of reasonable economies, so markets recovered. It's unclear exactly how things will play out." Written by Joe Deaux and Leon Lazaroff in New York >To contact the writer of this article, click here: Andrea Tse. 
  
 The benchmark 10-year Treasury rose 12/32 to dilute the yield to 1.688%. The dollar was rising 0.21% to $82.29 according to the |||||
A:
The stock market suffered its worst loss in five months today as China posted lower-than-expected growth and the Boston Marathon bombing added a late wave of anxiety, TheStreet and Wall Street Journal report.The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 266 points, gold fell by 9.4%, and the S&P dropped by 37. The China worry: Its growth fell to only 7.7%. "We have to agree: 7.7% growth is not a low growth rate ... for most nations; but China is not most nations," an economist said. He added that China requires 9% GDP growth to accommodate massive numbers of Chinese people moving east to the nation's coast. China's lower growth put pressure on commodity-linked sectors, sending energy shares and materials down by 3.7% and 3.8%, respectively. The mining company Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold suffered the worst S&P 500 loss by falling 8.8%. "When you talk about the sectors that are leading on the way down, they're all commodity-backed in some fashion," said a trade analyst.