US stocks sold off on Thursday, putting the Dow on course for its worst day of the year. The Dow fell more than 1.6 per cent, the S & P 500 fell more than 2 per cent and the Nasdaq fell more than 3 per cent. Some of the latest data have sparked fears of a possible recession and the view that it may be too late for the Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates. The number of US initial applications in the recent week recorded the largest increase since August 2023...