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u.s. news Diabierna 13 november 2020

Wall Street scuffles as worsening pandemic slows its rally

(AP) — U.S. stocks are though it again eased by a bit.
scuffling Thursday amid Last week, 709,000 workers
worries about worsening filed for unemployment ben-
coronavirus counts across efits, down from 757,000 a
the country. week earlier. It was also a bet-
ter reading than economists
The S&P 500 was 1.1% lower were expecting.
in afternoon trading, a rare But economists caution that
stumble in what's been a ban- the numbers could climb
ner month for the bench- again if coronavirus counts
mark index. The Dow Jones keep rising across the coun-
Industrial Average was down try and trigger more business
345 points, or 1.2%, at 29,052, closures.
as of 1:08 p.m. Eastern time, A separate report showed
while the Nasdaq composite that inflation at the consumer
fell 0.6%. level was weaker last month
Markets around the world than economists expected.
are taking a pause after gal-
loping higher this month, Following the reports, Trea-
at first on expectations that sury yields slipped. The yield
Washington will continue on the 10-year Treasury fell to
several pro-business policies 0.90% from 0.94% late Tues-
following last week’s U.S. day. Trading for U.S. gov-
elections. More recently, en- ernment bonds was closed
couraging early results for a Wednesday for Veterans Day.
potential COVID-19 vaccine rope, several governments in development, which could Financial stocks in the S&P
have investors envisioning a have brought back even get everyday life closer to 500, whose profits are more In European stock markets,
global economy returning to tougher restrictions that will normal, he cited the Federal closely tied to the strength of the French CAC 40 fell
normal. likely restrain the economy. Reserve, which has already the economy than Big Tech, 1.5%, and Germany’s DAX
Analysts are still largely opti- shown it can roll out bond- fell 2.2% for one of the larg- lost 1.2%. The FTSE 100 in
mistic the market can climb “From a health standpoint buying programs swiftly to est losses among the 11 sec- London dropped 0.7% after
even higher, largely because and economic standpoint, support markets. tors that make up the index. data showed the economy
they see a potential vac- the very near term looks While the market is showing slowed in September fol-
cine as a game changer. The relatively bleak,” said Mike Thursday’s slip for the S&P signs of worry over the up- lowing strong growth in the
S&P 500 and Dow are both Dowdall, investment strate- 500 pares its gain for Novem- tick in virus cases, the longer summer. That bodes ill for
close to their record highs. gist with BMO Global Asset ber down to 8.9%. If it holds view for an economic recov- the autumn, when new re-
But several risks remain that Management. there, it would still be the ery is still solid, said Brent strictions on businesses were
could trip up markets in the But while he says more vola- best month for the bench- Schutte, chief investment imposed.
near term. Rising above them tility may hit the market in mark index since April, when strategist of Northwestern In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225
all is the continuing pandem- the near term as governments the market was first explod- Mutual Wealth Management. rose 0.7% but other indexes
ic, with daily counts climbing bring back restrictions, he’s ing out of the crater created That scenario is bolstered by were weaker. South Ko-
in nearly every state. still optimistic about its pros- by the market’s sell-off amid the advances in vaccine de- rea’s Kospi lost 0.4%, Hong
pects into next year. pandemic panic. velopment. Kong’s Hang Seng dipped
The trends are worsening Big Tech stocks, which have “At some point the vaccine 0.2% and stocks in Shanghai
enough in New York, for “If you think back to the dark held out well throughout means the virus ends and we slipped 0.1%.
example, that the state is or- days of March, you didn’t much of the pandemic, are get back to something nor- Chinese technology shares
dering restaurants, bars and know how far we were from leading the market lower. mal,” he said. “I feel fairly have taken a beating this
gyms to close at 10 p.m. each normalization,” he said. Microsoft fell 0.6 and Face- confident going into next week, losing about $290 bil-
night, beginning Friday. New “People were saying it may be book slipped 0.1%. Several year.” lion in market capitalization
York had been a hotbed for years. But the backdrop from of the stocks that would ben- A report on Thursday after the government issued
the virus early in the year but a markets standpoint is just efit most from an economy showed that the number new proposed anti-trust reg-
had seemed to have gotten it a lot different than it was in returning to normal, mean- of layoffs across the coun- ulations for digital industries,
largely under control. In Eu- March.” Beyond the vaccines while, were lagging. try remains incredibly high, said Jeffrey Halley of Oanda.

Justice Dept.: ‘Poor judgment’ used in Epstein plea deal

(AP) — A Justice Department report has quired to make payments to victims and register The Justice Department’s internal probe con-
found former Labor Secretary Alex Acosta as a sex offender. cluded that Acosta’s “decision to resolve the fed-
exercised “poor judgment” in handling an eral investigation through the NPA constitutes
investigation into wealthy financier Jeffrey The investigation centered on two aspects of the poor judgment.”
Epstein when he was a top federal prosecu- Epstein case — whether prosecutors erred or
tor in Florida. committed misconduct by resolving the allega- Investigators found that although it was with-
tions through a non-prosecution agreement, and in his broad discretion and did not result from
The report, obtained by The Associated Press, is a also whether they mishandled interactions with “improper favors,” the agreement was “a flawed
culmination of an investigation by the Justice De- victims in the case. mechanism for satisfying the federal interest that
partment’s Office of Professional Responsibility caused the government to open its investigation
over Acosta’s handling of a secret plea deal with The report concludes that none of the attorneys of Epstein.”
Epstein, who had been accused of sexually abus- committed misconduct in their interactions with
ing dozens of underage girls. the victims because there was no “clear and un- The investigation included interviews with more
ambiguous duty” to consult with victims before than 60 witnesses and a review of hundreds of
Under the 2008 non-prosecution agreement – entering into the non-prosecution agreement. thousands of Justice Department records. Of-
also known as an NPA – Epstein pleaded guilty to ficials from the Office of Professional Respon-
state charges in Florida of soliciting and procur- Epstein was later charged by federal prosecutors sibility identified as subjects of the investigation
ing a minor for prostitution. That allowed him to in Manhattan for nearly identical allegations in Acosta, three former supervisors in his prosecut-
avert a possible life sentence, instead serving 13 2019, but he took his own life while in federal ing office as well as an assistant United States at-
months in a work-release program. He was re- custody as he awaited trial. torney involved in the Epstein case.