Stocks Sink After Us, Germany Report Record Economic Drops

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are falling in early trading on Wall Street Thursday after the U.S. and Germany reported record contractions in their economies in the second quarter as the coronavirus pandemic led to widespread shutdowns.

Markets sank further after President Donald Trump suggested that he might seek to delay the presidential election, although the election date is set by Congress. The S&P 500 fell 1%, and European markets posted larger losses.

The U.S. economy shrank at a 32.9% annual rate in the April-June period, its worst quarter in history by far. Also, another 1.4 million laid-off Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week.