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New York • Stocks are falling sharply in afternoon trading, led by more declines in energy and materials stocks as prices for oil and other commodities slide.

Chevron lost 3 percent. The drops follow sharp declines in European markets.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average lost 293 points, or 1.7 percent, to 17,273 as of 10:19 a.m. Mountain time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gave up 36 points, or 1.8 percent, to 2,016. The Nasdaq composite declined 100 points, or 2 percent, to 4,945.

BROAD DROPS: All 10 industry sectors of the S&P 500 fell, led by a 2.5 percent drop in energy shares.

THE QUOTE: "We're stockpiling commodities and demand is not picking up," said Tim Courtney, chief investment officer of Exencial Wealth Advisors. "It's kind of a depressing market."

OIL TROUBLE: The price of oil fell further after the International Energy Agency said that oversupply would continue until late next year and demand would weaken. Benchmark U.S. crude dropped $1.09, or 3 percent, to $35.68 a barrel in New York. Oil has been falling for 1 ½ years and is now at its lowest level since early 2009.

Though the drop in oil can help consumers and businesses by cutting their energy bills, the recent decline has been weighing on stocks as investors worry it is a sign of a weak global economy. The low price has also decimated profits at energy companies.

EUROPE DOWN: Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 3 percent. France's CAC 40 shed 1.3 percent and Germany's DAX lost 1.4 percent.

CHEMICAL MERGER: Dow Chemical and DuPont are giving up gains earlier this week after they confirmed their widely anticipated $130 billion deal to merge their businesses. The new company is due to split into three parts, one focused materials, one on agriculture and the last on specialty products. Dow Chemical fell $1.91, or 3.5 percent, to $53. DuPont lost $4.05, or 5.4 percent, to $70.50.

RETAIL BOOST: Retail sales grew 0.2 percent in November, an improvement compared to August-October. Consumers spent more money on apparel, sporting goods and electronics and online retailers did better. Department store sales were flat.

FED FOCUS: Investors are also focused on a two-day policy meeting at the Federal Reserve, which wraps up Wednesday. Policymakers are widely expected to announce that they're raising key interest rates from their record low levels. Recent economic reports indicate that the U.S. economy is healthy enough to withstand a rate hike.

CHINA DATA: Investors are cautious ahead of a batch of monthly economic data expected on Saturday, including retail sales, fixed asset investment and industrial production. Further out, a report on foreign direct investment in China is due on Wednesday. The latest figures will provide an update on the world's second biggest economy, which is struggling with a stubborn downturn.

ASIA'S DAY: Japan's Nikkei 225 index climbed 1 percent, but most other major indexes in Asia were down. South Korea's Kospi lost 0.2 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 1.1 percent and mainland China's Shanghai Composite lost 0.6 percent. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.2 percent.

BONDS, CURRENCIES: U.S. government bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.15 percent from 2.23 percent on Thursday. The dollar fell to 120.82 yen from 121.64 yen. The euro strengthened to $1.0995 from $1.0939.