Wall Street stocks finished lower following a choppy session on Tuesday as mixed earnings reports and weak consumer data underscored the economic challenges caused by the coronavirus shutdowns.
Procter & Gamble Co beat Wall Street expectations for quarterly profit on Friday as it reported its best U.S. sales growth in decades thanks to consumers stockpiling cleaning essentials in lockdowns against the coronavirus.
Hopes that the economy-crushing coronavirus pandemic might be easing sent Wall Street climbing sharply on Monday with all three main indices higher at the close of trading.
Wall Street’s three major indexes tumbled on Tuesday, with the Dow registering its biggest quarterly decline since 1987 and the S&P 500 suffering its deepest quarterly drop since the financial crisis on growing evidence of massive economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic.
Working from home went from optional to mandatory across Wall Street this week as financial firms reported their first confirmed cases of coronavirus and the outbreak triggered a state of emergency in New York City.
Wall Street climbed to record highs on Friday, with major indexes turning in their strongest weekly gains since August, after strong U.S. housing data and signs of resilience in the Chinese economy raised hopes of a rebound in global growth.
Wall Street stocks surged to fresh records on Thursday after the US Senate approved a new North American trade pact, adding to the momentum from the US-China trade deal. All three major indices finished at all-time highs, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 267.42 points (0.92%) at 29,297.64.
Wall Street stocks finished at records again on Monday, with an executive shakeup at Boeing lifting the Dow, as a holiday-shortened week opened with a flourish. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 96.44 points (0.34 percent) to finish the last full session before Christmas at 28,551.53.
World stock markets plunged on Monday as Beijing parried US President Donald Trump's latest tariff announcements by moving to let China's Yuan currency devalue and halting purchases of US agricultural products.
Deutsche Bank plans to cut 18,000 jobs in a sweeping, €7.4 billion overhaul designed to turn around Germany's struggling flagship lender The plan represents a major retreat from trading by Deutsche Bank, which for years had tried to compete as a major force on Wall Street.