U.S. stocks closed sharply lower Friday, locking in the worst 10-day start to a calendar year ever, as oil prices plunged and investors worried about slowing growth in the U.S. During the course of the session, the S&P 500 broke below its Aug. 24 low-which several market strategists said would be tantamount to a major sell signal-to trade at its lowest level since October 2014. The Dow Jones Industrial average was briefly down as much as 537 points. The Dow plunged 391 to 15,988, the S&P dropped 45 to 1,877 and the Nasdaq plummeted 127 to 4,488.
For investors spooked by this week’s carnage in financial markets, there is more bad news ahead. The U.S. fourth-quarter earnings season is about to kick off, and it promises to be ugly.
For the first time ever, natural gas in underground storage cracked the 4 trillion cubic foot mark in the contiguous United States, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Listen in for much more in A Wall Street Wrap-up.