Stocks Plummet, Heading for Worst Week Since March

Stocks fell on Friday, with Wall Street set to wrap up a difficult week as U.S. fiscal stimulus talks broke down, coronavirus cases rose and a slew of companies reported quarterly earnings.

The Dow Jones Industrials slid 315.26 points, or 1.2%, to 26,343.85.

The S&P 500 skidded 47.02 points, or 1.4%, to 3,310.11

The NASDAQ swooned 248.28 points, or 2.2%, to 10,937.31.

The Dow has fallen 6.7%, and the S&P 500 is down 5.4%, for the week and were on track for their biggest weekly losses since March. The NASDAQ has lost more than 4% over that time period and was also headed for its worst one-week performance since March.

Shares of Apple fell 3.5% after the tech giant reported a 16% decline in iPhone sales and failed to offer investors any guidance for the quarter ahead. Amazon dipped 2.2% even after the e-commerce giant reported blowout third-quarter results with a big beat on the top line.

Shares of Alphabet soared 7% after the Google parent company posted quarterly results that topped Wall Street expectations. Meanwhile, Twitter dropped more than 15% after the social media company reported user growth that fell short of expectations.

Earlier in the week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell adjourned the Senate until Nov. 9, making it unlikely for Democrats and Republicans to reach a deal on new fiscal stimulus. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, meanwhile, accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of miscasting the state of the stalled negotiations, calling it a “political stunt.”

Prices for the 10-Year Treasury sank, raising yields to 0.84% from Thursday’s 0.83%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices dropped 69 cents at $35.48 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices jumped $14.40 to $1,882.40

Stocks Plummet, Heading for Worst Week Since March