Wall Street remained volatile on Thursday.

At just past 2 pm New York time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.02 percent to 12,730.51, but earlier in the afternoon it had been down as much as 308 points, or 2.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite was down 1.2 percent to 2,429.39 and the S&P 500 had dropped 0.68 percent to 1,397.17.

Earlier, the Nasdaq had been down as much as 2.31 percent and the S&P had been down as much as 2.7 percent.

The Federal Reserve had earlier put another $17 billion into the banking system in an effort to raise investor confidence didn’t seem to have much immediate effect.

Investor fears seemed to be confirmed when Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC) was forced to draw down all of an $11.5 billion credit line in order to fund its operations after it could not borrow in traditional credit markets and after Moody’s Investor Service warned that the mortgage lender’s debt ratings could be cut to junk status.

Moody’s said it had cut Countrywide’s senior debt rating from A3 to Baa3, the lowest investment-grade rating.

Countrywide was down 23.63 percent to $16.26 in early afternoon trade.

The Commerce Department said that new home construction dropped to its lowest level in over ten years in July.

The announcement left home builders mixed.

At early afternoon, DR Horton (NYSE: DHI) was still 0.06 percent higher to $15.70, while Lennar (NYSE: LEN) had added 0.07 percent to $30.04 and Standard Pacific (NYSE: SPF) gained 1.57 percent to $9.08.

However, Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) was down 1.38 percent to $21.48, while Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) fell 1.89 percent to $16.58, Centex (NYSE: CTX) had dropped 4.13 percent to $30.90, and Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE: HOV) was 12.81 percent lower to $11.16.

In other economic news, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia announced that its general economic index was at zero in August, down from 9.2 in July, which meant that while the region’s economy is not contracting it is not expanding either.

At the midway point in Friday’s session, the New York equities markets were mixed, but all were looking at losses on the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Averge was down 0.2 percent for the day so far at 10,921.61, and had lost 2.9 percent during the week. The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.5 percent on the day so far, but its loss for the week stood at 3.2 percent. The S&P 500 was 0.1 percent lower for the day, at 1,256.43 and had declined 2.5 percent over the week. Sell-offs were responsible for most of the declines.

Durable goods stocks were down over the week. General Motors lost 5.1 percent to $25.15, while construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar was down 6.5 percent to $68.10.

Homebuilders were also lower over the week, with the S&P homebuilders index 6.9 percent lower. Pulte lost 10.2 percent to $28.15, while KB Homes was down 11.5 percent to $45.20 and Standard Pacific dropped 13.6 percent to $25.93.

Stock exchanges fell as well, with Nasdaq 8 percent lower at $27.62 and the NYSE Group off by 11.6 percent to $57.87.

Shares in miners lost value with the decline in metals prices. Newmont Mining lost 6.6 percent to $49.77, while Phelps Dodge was down 7.8 percent to $79.95 and Freeport McMoran dropped 12.5 percent on the week to $49.63.