Wall Street in a free fall

Stocks have plunged again to levels not seen in more than five years as hopes fade that lawmakers will soon put together an aid package for U.S. automakers.

Huge declines in the financial and energy sectors led stocks lower Thursday.

The pullback for the second straight day amid heavy volume sent the Standard & Poor’s 500 index down 6.7 percent to the 752 level, below the closing low of 776.76 logged on Oct. 9, 2002.

The Dow Jones industrial average, meanwhile, has fallen about 445 points, or 5.6 percent.