NEW YORK » Wall Street finished sharply lower yesterday as investors pored over more signs of economic weakness, including a huge round of layoffs in the financial sector.

After a turbulent week that sent the Dow Jones industrials down nearly 340 points, investors found little solace in the latest news. Stocks zigzagged throughout the session, finally giving way to a stream of late-day selling that left the Dow Jones industrials lower by 223 points.

In a signal that banks are still struggling in the wake of massive losses tied to bad mortgage debt, Citigroup Inc. is cutting another 53,000 jobs in the coming quarters. The company said that in addition to job cuts, it plans to lower expenses by about 20 percent and has reduced its assets by more than 20 percent since the first quarter of the year.

Meanwhile, a better-than-expected reading on industrial production did little to boost investor sentiment. The Federal Reserve said yesterday that industrial output rose 1.3 percent last month, after plunging in September by the largest amount in over 60 years. Economists, on average, had expected an increase of 0.2 percent.

The Dow fell 223.73, or 2.63 percent, to 8,273.58. Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 22.54, or 2.58 percent, to 850.75, while the Nasdaq composite index dropped 34.80, or 2.29 percent, to 1,482.05. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 5.16, or 1.13 percent, to 451.36.

Declining issues outpaced advancers by a 2 to 1 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to a light 5.7 billion shares.

In corporate news, Target Corp. yesterday became the latest retailer to post dour results, citing lower sales at established stores as the reason for a 24 percent drop in profit. Lowe's Cos., meanwhile, said its third-quarter profit also fell 24 percent, better than expected, but it predicted a fourth-quarter profit below the average analyst forecast.

On Sunday, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said seven top executives, including Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein, opted out of receiving cash or stock bonuses for 2008 amid the ongoing credit crisis. Citi's leaders also may also go without bonuses this year—a move that would effectively amount to a substantial pay cut for the company's executives.

Citigroup shares fell 63 cents, or 6.6 percent, to $8.89. Goldman sank $4.24, or 6.4 percent, to $62.49.

The three-month Treasury bill's yield fell to 0.10 percent from 0.14 percent late Friday, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.66 percent from 3.72 percent late Friday.

The dollar fell against most other major currencies, and gold prices also declined.

Light, sweet crude closed at a 22-month low, falling $2.11 to settle at $54.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.