Wall Street has dropped as a weaker-than-expected report on the US housing market raised fresh fears about an economic recovery.

Losses intensified as the National Association of Realtors reported US home sales fell another 2.6 percent in June to a 10-year low as inventories rose and prices fell with buyers still hesitant in the face of a horrific market slump.

Record losses reported by Ford Motor Co., forced to step up its restructuring, also contributed to the negative tone in the market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 283.19 points (2.43 percent) to close at 11,349.28 and the Nasdaq composite shed 45.77 points (1.97 percent) to 2,280.11.

The broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index retreated 29.65 points (2.31 percent) to 1,252.54.

Crude oil futures rebounded, gaining USD 1.05 to close at USD 125.49 a barrel in New York.

The Standard & Poor's banking index slid some 7.2 percent, leading the declines.

Among key financial groups, Citigroup slumped 9.7 percent to USD 19.06 and Bank of America shed 2.8 percent to USD 30.64.

Among other key stocks, Ford skidded 15.5 percent to USD 5.11 after reporting its worst quarterly loss ever at USD 8.7b and new transformation efforts while warning that it does not see a US economic recovery until 2010.

SG/HAR