STOCKS plummeted in New York yesterday after a strong February jobs report caught the financial markets off guard, and sent interest rates skyrocketing.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 171.24 points at 5,470.45. The Dow dropped 116 points in the morning, halved its losses by midday but resumed falling in the afternoon, dropping more than 200 points before recouping some of its losses.

"People are in something of a state of shock," said Mr James Solloway, research director at Argus Research.

Declining issues led advancers by 13 to one in the final hour.