U.S. stocks fell sharply Wednesday, nearly wiping out the previous session’s huge rally, as fears about Europe’s ongoing debt crisis resurfaced, CNNMoney reported. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 367 points, or 3.3 percent, by early afternoon. Earlier, the index fell as much as 468 points.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 34 points, or 2.9 percent, and the Nasdaq composite lost 64 points, or 2.6 percent.

Ever since Standard and Poor’s stripped the United States of its AAA credit rating Friday, fears have been building that rating agencies may also downgrade AAA-rated nations in Europe, since they are also struggling with mass debt problems.

Today, shares of French bank Societe Generale, or SocGen, tumbled 15 percent on the Paris stock exchange amid speculation that France, Europe’s second largest economy after Germany, may be first to face a rating cut.

Financial stocks led the sell-off in U.S markets, as investors worried that trouble in the European banking sector could spillover into the U.S. banks.

The major indexes have been swinging between massive gains and losses during trading, and ending sessions either overwhelming higher or lower. During the last month, stocks have lost more than 14 percent in value.

Ahead of the opening bell this morning, the New York Stock Exchange invoked Rule 48, which gives the exchange the right to pause trading in the event of extreme volatility. The NYSE typically invokes the rule several times each year.