Stocks tumbled in early trading Wednesday after a weak reading on December retail sales and a profit miss from JPMorgan added to investor worries.
Hurting the Dow was a fourth-quarter earnings miss from Dow component JPMorgan Chase (JPM). The bank posted earnings per share of $1.19, far below the $1.31 analysts’ expected. JPMorgan’s revenue number also came in light.
Adding to the gloom, December retail sales contracted 0.9% from a year ago, falling far below the 0.1% gain expected.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down about 180 points, or 1% in morning trading. The Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 0.8% and the Nasdaq composite index dropped 0.5%.
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