How the major stock indexes fared Monday

By The Associated Press, None

Oct. 17, 2011 2:33 PM PT

Stocks took their biggest drop in two weeks after the German government played down hopes that Europe’s debt crisis would be resolved soon. Expectations that a solution to the crisis could be reached at a European summit in Brussels Oct. 23 helped lift the S&P 500 index to its biggest gain in two years last week. Germany’s finance chief Wolfgang Schaeuble said Monday those expectations were too optimistic. Weak corporate earnings reports also pulled stocks lower.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 247.49 points, or 2.1 percent, to close at 11,397.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 23.72, or 1.9 percent, to 1,200.86.

The Nasdaq composite index fell 52.93, or 2 percent, to 2,614.92.

For the year to date:

The Dow is down 180.51 points, or 1.6 percent.

The S&P 500 is down 56.78, or 4.5 percent.

The Nasdaq is down 37.95, or 1.4 percent.