WASHINGTON - MONDAY'S record stock plunge saw approximately US$1.2 trillion (S$1.7 trillion) wiped off the market value ? the first-ever trillion-dollar one-day loss, according to the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000, the broadest measure of market activity.

The biggest-ever loss is almost double the size of the rescue package rejected by the US House of Representatives earlier on Monday.

Markets around the world panicked after lawmakers voted down the US$700 billion bailout for the financial system, raising the prospect of deeper financial turmoil.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 777.68 points (6.98 per cent) to close at 10,365.45, in its biggest single-day point decline ever.

The second largest point drop came on Sept 17, 2001, in the wake of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

The 6.98 percentage drop, however, does not make the top 10 greatest percentage losses. By contrast, on 'Black Monday' on Oct 19, 1987 the Dow Jones index dropped by a 22.61 percentage loss.

'We need to work as quickly as possible. We need to get something done,' Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told reporters at the White House after meeting with President George W. Bush.

'We believe that our plan, and the plan that we developed with congressional leaders and worked so hard, is a plan that works. And we need a plan that works.' -- AFP