Stocks are sliding in midday trading, putting the market on course for its third loss in a row.

The Dow Jones industrial average slumped 164 points, or 1 percent, to 16,878 as of noon Eastern time Wednesday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 13 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,959. The Nasdaq composite fell 42 points, or 0.9 percent, to 4,451.

Airlines stocks fell as investors feared that news of the first case of Ebola being diagnosed in the U.S. might discourage people from traveling. American Airlines and Delta each fell 3 percent.

U.S. government bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.42 percent.