While you were sleeping: UPDATED Wall St falls 365 pts in broad-based selloff

Stocks on Wall Street fell to levels not seen since last September as a US report raised fresh concerns about the global glut.

An Energy Information Administration report shows US crude inventories rose 234,000 barrels to 482.6 million last week, while supplies in Cushing, Oklahoma rose to a record of 64 million.

Gasoline stockpiles jumped 8.4 million barrels to 240 million barrels, the highest since February, while distillate stocks also climbed more than expected, up 6.1 million barrels. US crude futures settled at $US30.48 a barrel.

"People have seen in the past that these oil rallies have been very short, and to the extent they influence the equity markets, there is certainly some profit-taking going on," New Jersey-based LibertyView Capital Management president Rick Meckler told Reuters.

"People are selling every rally that is based on the movement of oil, because by the end of the day it can turn around and be down another 5%."

Stocks fell throughout the session and all three major indexes entered correction territory.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 364.81 points, or 2.2%, to 16,151.41. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 3.4% to 4526.06 and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 2.5% to 1890.28.

All sectors fell. “You look across the spectrum, and there’s been nowhere to really go and hide,” said Sahak Manuelian, managing director in equity trading at Wedbush Securities.

Some of the biggest gainers of 2015 dropped the most. Amazon.com, which contributed the most points to the S&P500 last year, fell 5.8%. Google parent Alphabet fell 3.5% and Facebook lost 4%.

Bond market gains
US Treasurys rose, pushing the yield on the 10-year note seven basis points lower to 2.10%.

"The continued risk-off sentiment is helping the rates market,"  Shyam Rajan, head of US rates strategy at Bank of America, one of the 22 primary dealers trading with the Federal Reserve, told Bloomberg. "The key drivers remain China and oil prices."

Investors took some heart from China's latest trade data, as well as signs that its efforts to stabilise its equity and currency markets are gaining traction.

"We believe China is sending a strong message to speculators and trying to stabilise RMB depreciation expectations," HSBC says in a research note, according to Reuters.

A Reuters poll of economists forecast China will report on January 19 its economic growth slowed to 6.8% in the fourth quarter, from 6.9% in the third quarter.

General Motors bucks trend
Bucking the trend on Wall Street, shares of General Motors rose 0.6% after the company lifted its 2016 earnings per share forecast. The car maker also says it will increase its stock buyback programme by $US4 billion to $US9 billion, and raise its dividend.

General Motors increased its 2016 earnings per share forecast to between $US5.25 and $US5.75 per share, up from its October 1 forecast of between $US5 and $US5.50 per share.

Chief executive Mary Barra remains optimistic about China.

"We still are very strong on China," Ms Barra says. Long term, the Chinese auto market could grow to 35 million vehicles from about 25 million currently, she says. Even so, "it's going to be very volatile."

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index finished the session with a 0.4% rise from the previous close. France's CAC 40 Index added 0.3%, while the UK's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.5%. Germany's DAX Index fell 0.3%.

(BusinessDesk)