Wall Street takes a hit as problems mount for Donald Trump
The growing political drama in Washington rattled Wall Street on Wednesday, knocking the Dow Jones industrial average down more than 370 points and giving the stock market its biggest single-day slump in eight months.
Investors worried the headline-fuelled political turmoil that has enveloped the White House may hinder President Donald Trump's plans to cut taxes, roll back government regulations and other aspects of his pro-business agenda.
The steep drop ended an unusually long period of calm for the markets, which had been hovering near all-time highs.
Financial stocks, which had soared in the months since the election, declined the most as bond yields fell sharply. Bonds, utilities and gold rose as traders shunned riskier assets. The dollar fell.
"When you are at these valuations, the market has to reassess whether or not the agenda is actually going to be implemented," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial.
"What you're seeing is a classic run toward safety."
The Standard & Poor's 500 index had its biggest drop since September, sliding 43.64 points, or 1.8%, to 2,357.03.
The Dow lost 372.82 points, or 1.8%, to 20,606.93.
The Nasdaq composite index, coming off setting two consecutive record highs, gave up 158.63 points, or 2.6%, to 6,011.24.
Small-company stocks fell more than the rest of the market.
The Russell 2000 index sank 38.79 points, or 2.8%, to 1,355.89.
Those companies would stand to benefit even more than large ones from corporate tax cuts Trump is proposing.
They also had risen sharply in the months following the election.
The sell-off snapped an unusually long period of calm after hitting a series of record highs.
On Tuesday the S&P 500, the benchmark favoured by professional investors, marked its 15th straight day of moving up or down by less than 0.5%.
It closed at its latest record high on Monday.
Bond prices rose sharply. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 2.21% from 2.33% late Tuesday, a large move.
The seeds of Wednesday's steep market sell-off were present late on Tuesday, when a published report revealed that Mr Trump allegedly made a personal appeal to now-fired FBI Director James Comey to drop the bureau's investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
The White House denied the report.
MR Trump had already been facing pointed questions about his discussions with Russian diplomats during which he was reported to have disclosed classified information.
"The controversy is not new, but this one really seems to be sticking," said Erik Davidson, chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank.
"The Trump economic programme is either going to be delayed by this turn of events or possibly be derailed, that's why investors are acting the way they are."
The latest headlines ratcheted up the market's unease.
The VIX index, a measure of how much volatility investors expect in stocks, rose to its highest level since April 13.
Investors shifted into US government bonds, pushing yields lower, and into gold.
The precious metal jumped 1.8%, climbing 22.30 dollars to settle at 1,258.70 dollars per ounce.
Among the hardest-hit stocks on Wednesday are in sectors that benefited most from the post-election rally as investors banked on Mr Trump to cut taxes, boost infrastructure spending and relax regulations that affect energy, finance and other businesses.
Banks fell sharply as bond yields declined, which will mean lower interest rates on loans. Bank of America slid 1.42 dollars, or 5.9%, to 22.57 dollars.
Unease over the potential implications of the latest political fallout in Washington weighed on the dollar on Wednesday.
The euro strengthened to 1.1150 from 1.1095 dollars. The dollar dropped to 111.11 yen from 113.03 yen.
Benchmark US crude rose 41 cents, or 0.8%, to close at 49.07 dollars per barrel in New York.
Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 56 cents, or 1.1%, to close at 52.21 dollars per barrel in London.
In other futures trading, natural gas fell four cents to 3.19 dollars per 1,000 cubic feet.
Wholesale petrol was little changed at 1.60 dollars per gallon.
Heating oil rose two cents to 1.53 dollars per gallon.
Among other commodities, silver added 16 cents to 16.85 dollars per ounce. Copper was little changed at 2.54 dollars per pound.
Markets overseas were also mostly lower.
In Europe, Germany's Dax fell 1.4%.
The CAC 40 in France slid 1.6%.
The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares dipped 0.2%.
Asian markets mostly fell.
Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 0.5%, while South Korea's Kospi dipped 0.1%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slipped 0.2%.
AP
