NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks dived and risk aversion rose on Wednesday as the financial crisis sparked a fresh round of bleak news and gave U.S. president-elect Barack Obama a grim welcome a day after his historic election.

With Obama’s victory less than 24 hours old, U.S. and European equity markets tumbled and American and euro zone government debt rose in a flight to safety after data from the services sector pointed to a prolonged worldwide slowdown.

The three major U.S. equity indices all fell more than 5 percent, with the Dow pulled down the most by industrial icons Exxon Mobil, Boeing and United Technologies.

Company reports underscored the daunting task Obama faces when he takes office in January and tries to lead the United States and the world out of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

“Even though there’s a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of excitement around the new president, I think it’s going to be very difficult for anything quick to happen,” said Dean Barber, president of investment firm Barber Financial Group in Kansas City.

“Today we just had reality set in that,” Barber said. “We’re still losing jobs and we still have consumer spending at very low levels and we are heading into a holiday season that looks like it could be one of the worst.”

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI closed down 486.01 points, or 5.05 percent, at 9,139.27. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX was down 52.98 points, or 5.27 percent, at 952.77. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was down 98.48 points, or 5.53 percent, at 1,681.64.

Finance company GMAC LLC reported a $2.52 billion loss in the third quarter, hurt by slumping housing and auto markets, and said its Residential Capital LLC mortgage unit may fail.

United Technologies Corp UTX.N said it stood by its 2008 profit forecast, though a strengthening dollar could put results near the low end of the range.

Slideshow ( 7 images )

United Technologies fell 6.2 percent.

In Europe a slew of bank results did little to lift a gloom that has darkened on a recurring trend of falling profits and rising provisions stemming from the deepening global crisis.

Euro zone service sector activity touched a fresh decade low in October, a final index reading showed, while a U.S. non-manufacturing report displayed weakness all around, with employment at its lowest on record and new orders tumbling.

“The surveys continue to show record pessimism,” Guillaume Menuet, an economist at Merrill Lynch in London, said about the European services data. “Sentiment has continued to deteriorate and it’s obviously bad news for the economy in the fourth quarter.”

European shares fell after six straight rising sessions as commodity shares tracked sharp losses in oil and metal prices.

ArcelorMittal MTP.PAISPA.AS, the world's No. 1 steelmaker, forecast a weaker final quarter, slashed output and froze growth plans in the face of a global slowdown.

Its shares fell almost 16 percent.

Commodity stocks were one of the biggest sectoral losers on the index as crude oil prices fell about 6 percent, and copper, zinc and nickel prices slipped by between 3.7 and 6 percent.

Slideshow ( 7 images )

“Nothing immediately is going to change as a result of the election victory. We still haven’t broken the downtrends,” said Darren Winder, head of economics and strategy at Cazenove.

Oil dropped 7 percent to below $66 a barrel after a U.S. government report showed fuel stockpiles growing as demand in the world’s top consumer continued to slow.

U.S. crude settled down $5.23 to $65.30 a barrel while Brent crude lost $4.57 to settle at $61.87 a barrel.

Gold dropped 2 percent on tumbling oil and as Obama’s decisive win bolstered the dollar, dampening sentiment for commodities across the board.

The December futures contract for gold settled down $14.90 at $742.40 an ounce in New York.

Treasuries rose late in the day after stocks slumped.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note gained 9/32 in price to yield 3.69 percent, and the 2-year U.S. Treasury note rose 1/32 in price to yield 1.36 percent.

The euro fell 0.62 percent at $1.2951, and against the yen, the dollar fell 1.12 percent at 98.49.

The MSCI index of Asian stocks outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 2.3 percent for a seventh consecutive session, while Tokyo's Nikkei .N225 rose 4.5 percent.