Ahead of a looming government shutdown, the Dow-Jones Industrial Average experienced its worst week since the 2008 global financial crisis as stocks continued to plummet on Friday.
The Dow ― which indicates the value of Apple, Microsoft and more than two dozen other companies ― dropped 6.8 percent by week’s end, marking the index’s biggest percentage drop since the height of the financial crash in October 2008.
The Dow wasn’t the only index that took a hit this week as President Donald Trump squabbled with Congress over securing funding for his long-promised border wall. The S&P 500 dropped 7 percent and the Nasdaq dropped 8.3.
Those major indexes are now 16 to 26 percent below the peaks they reached over the summer and fall. It’s unlikely they will be able to make significant gains in the final days of December, as trading typically slows during the winter holidays.
Aside from the border wall debate triggering shutdown fears, other ongoing factors affecting the market include “tighter U.S. monetary policy, flagging global growth and uncertainty surrounding U.S.-China trade relations,” MarketWatch reported.
Financial experts warn that the U.S. could be heading toward another recession, CNBC reported Friday, as it saw following the 2008 crash.