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US Markets End Worst First Quarter in History on Downbeat

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FILE - A sign for Wall Street is seen in front of the New York Stock Exchange, in New York City, Jan. 31, 2020.
FILE - A sign for Wall Street is seen in front of the New York Stock Exchange, in New York City, Jan. 31, 2020.

U.S. stocks closed Tuesday with historic first-quarter losses.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 413 points, off 2%. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was also down 2%, and the NASDAQ shed 1%.

European and Asian markets ended the day mostly higher.

The economic chaos caused by the coronavirus pandemic has sent the Dow falling 23% since January — the worst first quarterly loss in history.

March was also the worst month for the Dow since the 2008 recession.

While some analysts say the bottom has not yet been reached on Wall Street, others see light at the end of the coronavirus tunnel.

They say some investors, including company CEOs, have been buying shares of their own companies and others at bargain prices, a sign that a big economic comeback is on the way.

Others forecast a huge economic recovery once the outbreak peaks.

President Donald Trump said Sunday he believes the pandemic will peak by mid-April and that “great things” will be happening by the first of June.

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