Several companies with a major presence in Iowa saw their stock prices take a hard fall Monday after Congress rejected a proposed $700 billion plan to stabilize the nation’s financial sector.

801 Grand in downtown Des Moines, home of Principal Financial Group Inc., one of Iowa's largest employers

801 Grand in downtown Des Moines, home of Principal Financial Group Inc., one of Iowa's largest employers. Like most publicly traded companies, Principal saw its stock drop in the aftermath of failed bailout legislation.

The largest fall of the day belonged to American Equity Investment Life Holding Co. The West Des Moines-based insurer with 273 full-time employees in Central Iowa saw its stock drop 18.42 percent to $7.35.

Principal Financial Group Inc., which has around 8,000 full-time employees in Central Iowa, watched its stock fall 11.19 percent to $39.21.

Wells Fargo and Co., which has nearly 12,000 full-time employees in Central Iowa, saw its stock was drop 10.88 percent to $33.25.

Deere & Co. fell 13.68 percent to $47.76.

Urbandale-based Dice Holdings Inc. was down 7.45 percent to $5.96.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co., parent company of Johnston-based Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., saw its stock drop 6.05 percent to $39.45.

EMC Corp. stock dropped 9.83 percent to $11.47.

Overall, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 777.68 points, its biggest one-day drop in history, surpassing the 721-point drop the day after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, though in percentage terms it was well short of the drops on Black Monday of October 1987 and at the start of the Depression. It ended down 7 percent at 10365.45

The S&P 500 plummeted 8.6 percent, or 103.98 points, to 1109.03. The technology-focused Nasdaq Composite Index fell 9.1 percent, or 199.61 points, to 1983.73.

According to the Associated Press, just 162 stocks rose on the New York Stock Exchange, while 3,073 dropped.