NEW YORK — So much for the Santa Claus rally.

A run-up at the end of 2008 that had some investors hoping the worst was over is crumbling on fear that corporate profit reports arriving this week will signal a recovery in the economy is further off than Wall Street had hoped.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell for the fourth session yesterday as oil prices tumbled and as worries about the financial sector grew. So far this year, the Dow is down 3.5 percent. Stocks are still up sharply from late November but investors are quick to look for even subtle shifts in the market after the terrible run for stocks last year.