Wall St falls as US crude collapse compounds pandemic woes

File pic of trading hall at Wall Street

NEW YORK: Wall Street retreated for a second straight day on Tuesday as a collapse in U.S. crude prices and glum annual profit forecasts by companies foreshadowed the biggest economic slump since the Great Depression due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Almost all the major S&P 500 sub-sectors fell more than 1%, with the energy index sliding for the seventh time in eight sessions a day after the WTI contract crashed below zero as oil traders ran out of storage for May deliveries.