More than $50 Billion in Damage Caused by California Wildfires
Wildfires are sweeping the Los Angeles area and have caused an estimated $50 billion in losses, according to figures provided by AccuWeather.
Evacuations for tens of thousands have already begun, and five people have died as a result of the fires that are affecting lightly populated areas around Los Angeles. The wildfires started Tuesday and are still continuing despite the courageous efforts of fire services.
The fires may spread even further and hit highly populated areas very soon, which would cause the damage figures to skyrocket, and potentially lead to a much greater loss of life. The spreading flames have knocked out power for 170,0000 residents who rely on Southern Edison electricity services.
If the fires reach more structures in the next few days, California could be seeing the worst wildfire in modern times.
Stock Market Impact of the Wildfires
On Wednesday, the Edison International (EIX) stock dropped by about 13% as a result of the power outages they suffered from the fires. All across California, power loss resulted in about 400,000 Californians having to endure outages. The electric service predicted that the fires could continue to cause more outages, potentially affecting another 42,000 people.
We will not know how much impact the fires are having on stocks across the country, however, until Friday when the market reopens. It is currently closed through all of Thursday for a national day of mourning for the death of former President Jimmy Carter.
Ahead of the market’s close, the Nasdaq was down 0.06% after a sharp drop the day before. The Dow Jones gained 0.25%, and the S&P 500 was up 0.16%. New inflation information is holding the markets back, as it looks like the current inflation levels will be around for a little longer.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve spoke about slowing down on interest rate cuts in light of new inflation data. That could mean slower progress for the stock market as well and cast a shadow over recent economic gains for the United States. Despite the GDP rising faster than expected, inflation is still high and could remain so for a while longer, leading the Fed to reconsider its scheduled interest rate cuts.
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