Dow plunges 1,000 points in early week trading amid recession fears

Stocks plummeted on Monday and Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 1,000 points amid persistent fears of a looming recession into the new year. 

The Dow dropped from just under 34,500 on Friday to just under 33,500 by Tuesday afternoon, falling to levels it had not seen since early November. 

The plunge comes amid ongoing layoffs in major sectors of the economy, including finance, media and tech. 

Meta last month announced the laying off of around 11,000 employees, while layoffs at Amazon have been speculated to loom at around 20,000. 

Firings were also reported to be on the line at Morgan Stanley and PepsiCo, while media outlets including CNN have recently announced significant downsizing.