NEW YORK - US STOCKS dropped sharply at the opening on Monday as traders locked in gains from a stunning series of rallies in the past week and fresh recession jitters emerged.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 299.55 points (3.39 per cent) to 8,529.49 in the first 10 minutes of trade after five winning sessions.

The Nasdaq shed 56.05 points (3.65 per cent) to 1,479.52 and the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 36.70 points (4.09 per cent) to 859.54.

A pullback was expected after a huge snapback rally. Todd Salamone at Schaeffer's Investment Research said that the Dow posted its best five-day percentage gain since 1932.

Jason Kunkel at Economy.com said the market was awaiting economic data 'which may show that the recession is intensifying.' Al Goldman at Wachovia Securities said some caution was now coming back to the market.

'There is now a tug-of-war going on between hope that the recession will end six to nine months from now rather than several years,' Mr Goldman said.

'There is reason for hope based on the historical resilience of our economy and the dramatic steps already taken by the Fed (Federal Reserve) and Treasury.

But with credit market problems unprecedented since the Great Depression, hope needs to be tempered with some caution.' -- AFP