The Dow industrials plunged 216 points on Wall Street yesterday in the first real barrage of profit-taking since the US stock market rebound began less than two months ago.

Recording its first one-day loss of more than 200 points since October 1st, the Dow Jones industrial average sank 216.53 points - or by 2.3 per cent - to 9,116.55.

The drop more than wiped out last week's 173-point gain. Broader stock indexes also suffered heavy losses in the aftermath of last week's rally, which lifted the Dow and other popular measures to their first new highs since July.

The Standard and Poor's 500 fell 28.63 to 1,163.70, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 66.90 to 1,949.54.