A wave of bad news and another jump in oil prices sent the Dow Jones industrial average plummeting more than 300 points to its lowest level in nearly two years, the Associated Press reported. Other major indexes fell about 3 percent as well.

Unofficial closing figures showed the Dow at 11,453.42, down 358.41 points, or 3.03 percent. All of the stocks in the index fell during the day. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 2.93 percent to 1,283.23, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 3.33 percent to 2,321.37.

Light sweet crude rose more than $5 today, past $140 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ president, Chakib Khelil, was quoted as saying oil could rise to between $150 and $170 per barrel this summer before retreating.

Analysts’ negative remarks about General Motors Corp. caused the company’s shares to drop to their lowest level in more than 30 years. Meanwhile, Citigroup Inc.’s shares fell sharply after an analyst put a “sell” rating on the stock. Poor outlooks from Oracle Corp. and Research In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry wireless platform, caused huge declines in the technology industry as well.

Among the biggest declines for local companies, American Equity Investment Life Holding Co.’s shares fell 24.57 percent to $7.98 on news that the Securities and Exchange Commission could require the registration of index annuities as securities. FBL Financial Group Inc.’s shares fell 9.29 percent to $18.46 and Principal Financial Group Inc.’s shares fell 7.6 percent to $43.41.

Winnebago Industries Inc.’s shares fell 6.79 percent to $10.30, hitting a 52-week low, after it reported operating losses of $6.9 million in its fiscal third quarter last week, partially due to a steep rise in oil prices.