Stocks sink after Democrats say they'll forge ahead with impeachment inquiry
Stocks fell Tuesday after Rep. John Lewis said he is in favor of moving forward with an impeachment inquiry against President Trump for his asking of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry on Tuesday after the close of trading. Trump responded with the tweet: "PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT!"
The major averages closed lower following Lewis', D-Ga., comments but pared their losses after Trump tweeted he would release the unredacted Ukraine transcript in full.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 142.22 points, or 0.53 percent. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 0.84 percent and 1.46 percent, respectively.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 38239.98 | +253.58 | +0.67% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 5010.6 | +43.37 | +0.87% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 15451.305261 | +169.30 | +1.11% |
Stocks were already under pressure following the release of disappointing U.S. economic data and President Trump's speech to the United Nations in which he called out China.
"Not only has China declined to adopt promise reforms, it has embraced an economic model dependent on massive market barriers, heavy state subsidies, currency manipulation, product dumping, forced technology transfers and the theft of IP, and trade secrets on a grand scale,” the president said during his 30-minute speech.
Earlier Tuesday, the Conference Board said that the consumer confidence index fell from 134.2 in August to 125.1 this month, its weakest reading in three months. The S&P Case-Shiller home index said prices rose 2 percent in July, their slowest appreciation since 2012.
Starbucks shares finished lower after the coffee giant won an appeal against the European Union, which was demanding up to $33 million of back taxes be paid to the Netherlands.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SBUX | STARBUCKS CORP. | 88.18 | +0.57 | +0.65% |
On the earnings front, Blackberry was under pressure after reporting revenue that was below expectations. The communications-software provider eked out adjusted earnings that were breakeven, 1 cent better than expected. Elsewhere, shares of the Chinese electric-car maker Nio plunged after reporting a bigger than expected loss and saying it raised $200 million from its CEO and Tencent, one of its biggest shareholders.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BBRY | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| NIO | NIO INC. | 4.00 | +0.20 | +5.26% |
Buying of Treasurys pushed the 10-year yield down 7.3 basis points to 1.635 percent.
Commodities were mixed with West Texas Intermediate crude oil under pressure and gold firm.
Overnight, China's Shanghai Composite paced the advance with a 0.8 percent gain. Japan's Nikkei added 0.1 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng tacked on 0.3 percent.
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FOX Business' Ken Martin contributed to this article.