U.S. stock benchmarks were trading around the highest levels in about three weeks on Friday, with anxieties surrounding trade and other government policies taking a back seat to upbeat bank earnings to unofficially kick off the first-quarter earnings season. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.50% was up 145 points, or 0.6% at 24,638. The broad-market S&P 500 index SPX, -0.29% climbed 0.6% at 2,679, while the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.47% advanced 0.6% at 7,180. The Dow and the...

U.S. stock benchmarks saw losses gather in late-afternoon trade on Friday, with the Dow off triple-digits and the Nasdaq breaching a key technical level intraday. Persistent fears about the impact of trade wars on the domestic economy has been the main culprit for the market tumble, say market participants. The Dow DJIA, -1.77% recently was off 228 points, or 0.9%, at 23,738, the S&P 500 index SPX, -2.10% gave up 1.3% to 2,610, while the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -2.43% fell 1.4% at 7,070,...

Shares of Riot Blockchain Inc. Wednesday afternoon were trading nearly 11% lower, even as bitcoin prices tilted slightly higher at around $15,000. Riot Blockchain RIOT, -12.69% started life as diagnostic machinery biotech stock Biopix Inc., before pivoting to cryptocurrencies and changing its name. The company aims to support blockchain technologies, which underlie digital currencies, such as bitcoin BTCUSD, -3.32% Over the past week, Riot's shares are down 12.4% so far this week as bitcoin...

Getty Images Think bitcoin is in bubble territory? You ain’t seen nothing yet, says one cryptocurrency expert, who believes its value needs to surge by about 300 times over the next several years to be considered a legitimate currency or risk retreating into obscurity and obsolescence. Bitcoin, the No. 1 cryptocurrency, has drawn outsize attention over its parabolic rise—and the recent, brutal plunge it has been enduring in recent trade. Some market participants, however, make the case that...

Getty Images Did Jamie Dimon obliterate bitcoin’s buzz? Bitcoin and other digital currencies have been getting absolutely toasted in recent trade, with some wondering if withering criticism from Wall Street heavyweights, like J.P. Morgan Chase’s JPM, +0.26% CEO, and growing regulatory scrutiny in China have finally combined to exact a punishing, and lasting, toll on one of the most bubblicious segments of finance. On Wednesday, the value of a single bitcoin was at $3,772, compared with around...