New York, Feb 9 (IANS): US stocks have plunged more than 1,000 points for the second time this week and the stock market was now in a correction -- 10 per cent off its record high just two weeks ago, the media reported.

The Dow finished with a decline of 1,033 points or 4.15 per cent to 23,860.46 on Thursday, the second-worst point drop in history, eclipsed only by Monday's historic 1,175-point nosedive, reports CNN .

The S&P 500 dropped 100.66 points, or 3.75 percent, to 2,581.00. The Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 274.82 points, or 3.90 perc ent, to 6,777.16.

Analysts said the rising bonds yields dented investor sentiment. The country's 10-year yield nearly surpassed a four-year high of 2.885 per cent in the morning trading on Thursday, a level that helped trigger a global sell-off in equity markets on Monday, reports Xinhua news agency.

On the economic front, in the week ending on February 3, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 221,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 230,000, the US Labour Department said on Thursday.

The four-week moving average was 224,500, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 234,500. This is the lowest level for this average since March 10, 1973 when it was 222,000.