Democracy Dies in Darkness

Historic plunge in oil prices sends U.S. stocks reeling, with Dow losing nearly 600 points

U.S. crude prices for May delivery turned negative – a first – amid scarce demand and limited storage capacity

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April 20, 2020 at 5:05 p.m. EDT
Pedestrians walk past the New York Stock Exchange on a nearly empty Wall Street in New York. (Gabby Jones/Bloomberg News)

U.S. stocks were shaken deeply into the red Monday after oil traders desperate to unload near-term contracts for their vital commodity sold at a loss.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 592 points, 2.4 percent, to finish the day at 23,650.44. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 51 points, or 1.8 percent, to 2,823,16. The tech-heavy Nasdaq slid 89 points, or 1.0 percent, to 8,560.73.