World Stocks, Oil Plunge as Global Growth Prospects Dim

Shares of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. soared Friday after California's top utility regulator said his agency will help the company deal with potentially crippling liability costs from wildfires.PG&E's stock rebounded 37.5 percent Friday after plunging 60 percent and losing $15 billion in valuation in the week following the Northern California wildfire that is the nation's deadliest in a century. World equity markets and oil prices tumbled on Tuesday as investors grew more worried about economic growth prospects, while the U.S. dollar rose on flight to safe-haven currencies.U.S. stocks slid further. Shares of consumer discretionary companies plunged after several retailers, including Target Corp and Kohl's Corp, gave underwhelming quarterly results and earnings forecasts. Shares of Apple Inc, dragged by softening demand for the iPhone, fell further after Goldman Sachs trimmed its price target for the stock for the second time in just over a week."It's the market adjusting to an early 2019 that looks different from the months of 2018 in that there have been mounting concerns over global growth," said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial.Oil prices dropped more than 6 percent to mirror the stock sell-off as fears about slowing global demand and a surge in U.S. production outweighed expected supply cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).Oil extended losses after U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States intends to remain a "steadfast partner" of Saudi Arabia even though "it could very well be" that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman knew about the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Heightened tensions between the two countries had raised concerns about possible supply disruptions.U.S. crude futures slumped $3.77, or 6.59 percent, to settle at $53.43 a barrel. Brent crude futures settled $4.26 lower at $62.53 a barrel, down 6.38 percent.