The daily business briefing: December 5, 2018

U.S. stocks plunge on renewed fears of trade tensions, VW to launch its last generation of gas-powered cars in 2026, and more

Traders on the NYSE floor as the Dow drops
(Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

1. U.S. stocks dive on renewed fears of trade war, economic slowdown

U.S. stocks plummeted on Tuesday on disappointing bank earnings and growing skepticism about the temporary truce in the U.S.-China trade war. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 799 points or 3.1 percent, while the broader S&P 500 index dropped by 3.2 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunged by 3.8 percent. Shares of banking giants Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and Capital One sank to 52-week lows. The yield on the three-year Treasury note rose above that of its five-year counterpart. Such a so-called yield curve inversion often signals a coming recession. U.S. stock markets are closed Wednesday, a day of mourning for former President George H.W. Bush, but futures point to a modest rebound on Thursday.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.