Wall Street finished down yet again on Wednesday, as poor earnings figures compounded the worst retail sales number in a year.
Earnings season is in full swing. The first taste of bad news came in the form of JP Morgan Chase reported a 6.6% drop in quarterly profits. This difference can be attributed to the $1 billion the firm spent in legal costs at the end of 2014 to defend themselves during government investigations.
This morning featured the release of December retail sales numbers, and the results were disappointing. Sales figures dropped 0.9% during December, the largest one-month drop since late 2013.
Lastly, the World Bank has lowered its 2015 and 2016 global growth forecasts as of this morning. A spokesman indicated the change was due to disappointing figures from the Euro zone, Japan and other emerging world economies. When asked, the spokesperson added that lower oil prices alone would not be enough to offset these downturns.
Even an upturn in oil prices of almost 5% weren’t enough to prevent another losing day.
Here were Wednesday’s final numbers on Wall Street:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 17,426.83 (-186.85)
NASDAQ: 4,639.32 (-22.18)
S&P 500: 2,011.27 (-11.76)
