Stocks close at 14-month low

U.S. equity indexes slid to their lowest close in 14 months as investors weighed the impact of the Federal Reserve on growth in an economy already anxious over trade, geopolitical tensions and a possible government shutdown.

The S&P 500 index finished Monday’s session its lowest level since October 2017. The technology, health care and consumer sectors led the rout, but no segment of the benchmark went unscathed. Insurance stocks plunged after a court ruling jeopardized Obamacare, while Johnson & Johnson sank on fresh worries its asbestos scandal will intensify.

At one point, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 600 points. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies entered a bear market. The dollar dropped, while Treasuries gained. West Texas crude settled below $50 for the first time since October 2017 as glut fears grew.

Global growth forecasts for next year are being trimmed as a trade war between the biggest economies bites and markets reel from a volatile 2018. Meanwhile, political uncertainty still grips investors. There are yet more personnel changes within the Trump administration and confusion remains over Britain’s future relationship with the European Union.

CBS denies exec $120M severance

CBS Corp., battered by scandal and facing a leadership vacuum, said former CEO Leslie Moonves misled the company about allegations of sexual misconduct and tried to hide evidence as he made a frenzied attempt to save his legacy and reap a severance. As a result, the company said Moonves would not receive his $120 million exit payout. “We have determined that there are grounds to terminate for cause, including his willful and material misfeasance, violation of company policies and breach of his employment contract, as well as his willful failure to cooperate fully with the company’s investigation,” the board said in a statement Monday.

Carmakers quarrel over jailed exec

Disarray at the top of the world’s largest automaking consortium intensified Monday after Nissan’s directors failed to nominate a new chairman, and Renault pushed for a public discussion of the growing risks it faces in a financial reporting scandal that led to the jailing of Carlos Ghosn, the alliance’s hard-charging chief. Nissan, of Japan, and Renault, based in France, have a long-standing partnership that is considered essential to both carmakers’ success. Monday, they appeared to be increasingly at odds over how to cope with the huge gap in top management caused by Ghosn’s arrest last month.