U.S. stock markets opened to yet another dismal day Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down more than 250 points, the Nasdaq Composite Index dropping 1.5 percent, and the S&P falling 1.5 percent to nearly its lowest level since 2014. The stock market's plummet follows the continuing decline of oil prices, which have now reached their lowest levels in over 12 years and are expected to continue falling following the lifting of sanctions on Iranian crude oil exports.
Early Wednesday, U.S. crude oil dropped to under $28 a barrel, which the Associated Press reports is an indication of the global economy slowing down. So far in 2016, the Dow is down more than 8 percent and global markets remain tumultuous.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Will AI kill the smartphone?In The Spotlight OpenAI and Meta want to unseat the ‘Lennon and McCartney’ of the gadget era
-
Must-see bookshops around the UKThe Week Recommends Lose yourself in beautiful surroundings, whiling away the hours looking for a good book
-
A Nipah virus outbreak in India has brought back Covid-era surveillanceUnder the radar The disease can spread through animals and humans
-
TikTok secures deal to remain in USSpeed Read ByteDance will form a US version of the popular video-sharing platform
-
Unemployment rate ticks up amid fall job lossesSpeed Read Data released by the Commerce Department indicates ‘one of the weakest American labor markets in years’
-
US mints final penny after 232-year runSpeed Read Production of the one-cent coin has ended
-
Warner Bros. explores sale amid Paramount bidsSpeed Read The media giant, home to HBO and DC Studios, has received interest from multiple buying parties
-
Gold tops $4K per ounce, signaling financial uneaseSpeed Read Investors are worried about President Donald Trump’s trade war
-
Electronic Arts to go private in record $55B dealspeed read The video game giant is behind ‘The Sims’ and ‘Madden NFL’
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fineSpeed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in IntelSpeed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
