This Day In Market History: Bush, Gorbachev Suggest An End To The Cold War

Each day, Benzinga takes a look back at a notable market-related moment that occurred on this date.

What Happened: On Dec. 3, 1989, President George H. W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev indicated that their rival nations may be wrapping up the Cold War.

Where The Market Was: The S&P 500 traded around 350, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded near 2,750.

What Else Was Going On In The World: East Germany had just written protection for communist monopoly out of its constitution, and the U.S. was about to intervene in a military coup in the Philippines.

Bush And Gorbachev Pursue Peace: After a series of talks, the U.S. and Soviet leaders left the Malta Summit with expressed optimism that the Cold War was coming to a close. The nations agreed in 1990 to work toward an arms and nuclear weapon treaty and scheduled another summit for June of that year.

While some scholars consider 1991 the official end of the war, others interpreted the Malta statements as declarations of peace and subsequently declared the war over.

“The characteristics of the Cold War should be abandoned,” Gorbachev said at the time. “[...] The arms race, mistrust, psychological and ideological struggle, all those should be things of the past.”

The nations have had a difficult time honoring Gorbachev’s vision. Mistrust and psychological and ideological struggles are typical to U.S.-Russia relations.

Photo: Yuriy Somov / Юрий Сомов