Wall Street stocks tumbled Thursday as investors reacted strongly to another surge in oil prices, with the Dow Jones industrial average losing more than 160 points.

The Dow Jones industrial average settled at 9,963.03 points, down 163.48 points. It was the third time in the last 10 sessions that the blue chip index closed below the 10,000 mark.

Meanwhile, the broader market also closed sharply lower. The Nasdaq composite index fell 33.43 points, or 1.8 percent, to 1,821.63 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 index shed 17.93 points, or 1.6 percent, to 1,080.70 points.

Crude oil futures soared to 44.41 dollars a barrel, up 1.58 dollars in the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil prices dominated investors' thoughts, causing them to ignore other news, both good and bad.

"We've had some good economic numbers, but with the high price of oil and the terror alert, there's a lot of pressure on the market on a short-term basis," said a chief investment officer from Ryan Beck & Co. " These oil prices will eat away at consumer confidence, consumer spending and start to affect business decision making."

Retail suffered the worst on oil hike. Companies including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. sank despite both reported stronger sales in July that met analysts' expectations.

Wal-Mart dropped 1.15 dollars to 52.05 dollars and Target fell 1.37 dollars to 41.76 dollars. Other decliners included Frontier Oil Corp., which like many energy companies, showed strong earnings thanks to this year's rise in oil prices. Frontier's stock fell 1.19 dollars to 19.35 dollars despite its profits beat forecasts.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. edged up 5 cents to 10.90 dollars after turning to a profit in the second quarter, and generic Drug maker Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. rose 98 cents to 36.70 dollars after giving an improved 2005 earnings outlook.

On the NYSE, declining stocks outnumbered advancers by 3 to 1, and the trading volume was 1.39 billion shares.