Banks sell off but Wall Street ends far from lows

Bank shares dragged Wall Street lower on Thursday on concerns the a slowing global economy will continue to pressure interest rates, but energy shares helped the market pare losses on a report that OPEC may move to cut oil production.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 255.24 points, or 1.6 percent, to 15,659.5, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 22.91 points, or 1.24 percent, to 1,828.95 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 16.76 points, or 0.39 percent, to 4,266.84.