The daily business briefing: April 1, 2020

Wall Street posts its worst quarter drop in years, the FDA cuts red tape to help companies develop COVID-19 therapies, and more

Wall Street is empty
(Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

1. Wall Street posts worst quarterly decline since 2008 financial crisis

U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday, capping their worst quarter since the 2008 financial crisis as the financial destruction of the coronavirus pandemic ravaged markets worldwide. The S&P 500 finished the first three months of the year down by 20 percent − its worst first quarter ever. U.S. stock index futures dropped sharply early Wednesday, with the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the Nasdaq all down by more than 2 percent three hours before the opening bell, after President Trump warned Tuesday of a "very, very painful two weeks" ahead as the coronavirus outbreak intensifies. U.S. DoubleLine Capital CEO Jeffrey Gundlach said the market could worsen, too, possibly dropping back below March lows after last week's partial rebound.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

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.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
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.