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* September consumer confidence data weaker than expected
* Nike dips; results due after the bell
* Indexes down: Dow 0.5%, S&P 0.7%, Nasdaq 1.3%
(Updates to late afternoon)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Sept 24 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were down sharply
in volatile trading on Tuesday as a push by some Democrats for
the impeachment of U.S. President Donald Trump gained momentum.
The Washington Post reported that Democratic House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi would announce a formal impeachment inquiry of
Trump, a Republican, later on Tuesday. Support amongst Democrats for the start of impeachment
proceedings increased after news that Trump may have sought
foreign help in smearing a political rival.
Stocks briefly pared losses after Trump, in a tweet, said
his administration would release a complete transcript of a call
with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that is at the
center of the controversy.
He said the released transcript would show the call was
"totally appropriate" and that he had not pressured Zelenskiy to
investigate Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden and that
there had been no quid pro quo for U.S. aid in exchange for a
probe. "What all of that combined is going to do is ensure there is
going to be elevated volatility in both directions in the next
few days," said Michael James, managing director of equity
trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles.
At 3:12 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
fell 128.9 points, or 0.48%, to 26,821.09, the S&P 500 .SPX
lost 22.09 points, or 0.74%, to 2,969.69 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC dropped 107.05 points, or 1.32%, to 8,005.41.
Wall Street's major indexes lost their footing earlier in
the day when Trump took a harsh tone about China's trade
practices, while disappointing consumer confidence data raised
concerns over the economic impact of a prolonged U.S.-China
trade war. Nike Inc NKE.N slipped 0.6%, ahead of the world's largest
sportswear maker's first-quarter results after the bell.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
2.10-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 3.14-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 31 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 36 new highs and 89 new lows.