NEW YORK – Stocks on Wall Street tumbled to the worst one-day loss of the year as investors look past the U.S. presidential election and worry over problems ahead in Washington and Europe.

The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 313 points to end at 12,933 Wednesday — its worst day of 2012.

The Standard and Poor’s 500 index fell 34 points to 1,395 and the Nasdaq composite index gave up 75 points to 2,937.

Investors worry the “fiscal cliff” — a string of tax and spending cuts due to take effect at the end of 2012 — could send the U.S. back into recession unless Republicans and Democrats can collectively create an alternative budget plan.

In Europe, leaders warned that unemployment could remain high for years.