Europe's spreading debt woes and slower manufacturing in China pushed stocks sharply lower Wednesday. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 200 points in afternoon trading.

Traders worldwide were spooked by the poor results at an auction of German debt, which drew too few bids to sell all of the 10-year notes being offered. Germany has Europe's strongest economy, and traders have bought its debt as a safe place to store value during turbulent times.

The weak buying suggests that Europe's crisis might be infecting strong nations that are crucial to keeping the euro currency afloat. Germany bears much of the burden of bailing out weaker neighbors such as Greece and Portugal.

Borrowing costs for Italy and Spain rose from levels that already were considered dangerously high. Europe lacks the resources to bail out those countries, which have its third- and fourth-biggest economies.

The Dow fell 209 points, or 1.8 percent, to 11,285 as of 2:20 p.m. Eastern time. The Dow has now given back more than half of its big October rally. It jumped 9.5 percent last month, the biggest gain since 2002.