U.S. markets slid early Monday as Wachovia Corp. looked headed for a sale and Washington legislators moved closer to a vote on a $700 billion bailout plan.

U.S. regulators and Wachovia executives worked through the weekend to engineer a possible sale of the firm to either Citigroup or Wells Fargo. Meanwhile, the House scheduled a vote on the bailout plan, which is expected at midday.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell early, down 337.55 points, or 3.03 percent, to 10,805.58. The Standard and Poor's 500 fell 3.61 percent, 43.82 points, to 1,169.19. The Nasdaq composite index lost 83.96 points, 3.85 percent, to 2,099.19.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bond rose 1 10/32 to yield 3.693 percent.

The dollar was mixed Monday. The euro fell to $1.4394, compared to $1.4626 Friday. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was at 105.32 yen, down from 106.37 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei average lost 149.55 points to 11,743.61, down 1.26 percent.