U.S. stocks close 2% lower on deflated hopes for Europe; Dow ends back in the red for 2011

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch)
U.S. stocks dropped about 2% Monday, ending near their lows of the session, after German officials tried to lower expectations that an upcoming meeting of euro-zone officials would yield a speedy fix to Europe's debt problems.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 247.49 points, or 2.1%, to 11,397, led by a 6.6% drop in Alcoa, Inc. shares.
Resources investors are also trading cautiously ahead of some key reports from China.
The S&P 500 was down 23.72 points, or 1.9%, to 1,200.86.
The financial sector and materials sector lost more than 3%.
The Nasdaq Composite dropped 52.93 points, or 2%, to 2,614.92.
All indexes are now lower for the year.