Monday's Stock Market Open: Dow Plunges At Open On Hong Kong Violence, Trade, Impeachment Worries

Violence in Hong Kong weighed on the market open Monday as worries over a trade agreement with China also loomed and Democrats prepared to open the next phase of the impeachment inquiry.

Coming off record highs, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged nearly 160 points at the open but by midday had made a modest recovery. The Dow was down 35 points at 27,646 while the Nasdaq cut its initial drop in half to 24 points at 8,451 and the S&P 500 gave up 9 points to 3,083.

Hong Kong police shot a protester in the abdomen at point-blank range and a man was doused with gasoline and set afire as anti-government protests paralyzed downtown and hobbled transport networks.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam condemned protesters and warned the government will not yield to their demands if the violence continues.

Traders were weighing the odds of a resolution to the trade war with China after President Trump on Friday indicated he was cool to any agreement. Trump said no agreement on tariff reductions had been reached and, in any case, there’s no chance tariffs would be eliminated entirely.

Democrats planned to open the public phase of the impeach inquiry Wednesday with testimony from two diplomats at the center of the controversy over whether Trump tried to pressure Ukraine into investigating his political rivals in exchange for military aid. The president started the morning by railing against the investigation, saying transcripts released last week were “doctored.”

In a “60 Minutes” interview aired Sunday, JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon called income inequality a huge problem but refused to say executive pay should be cut. Dimon expressed optimism about the economy continuing its unprecedented expansion and said the current situation is just a slowdown, not a prelude to a recession. Trump praised Dimon for saying in the interview that the tariffs brought China to the table.

Alibaba (BABA) says Chinese consumers spent a record $38.4 billion so far for the Singles Day shopping festival, buying everything from electronics to luxury items and cars. This year’s festival included B2B platforms in addition to the consumer e-commerce mainstays.

Global markets were mainly lower.

In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 2.62% while Japan’s Nikkei 225 was off 0.26% and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 1.83%. Australia’s S&P/ASX gained 0.72%.

In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 closed off was off 0.42% and the German DAX lost 0.23%. The French CAC 40 gained 0.07% while the Stoxx Europe 600 was off 0.02%.

On currency markets, the British pound was up 0.64% at $1.2857 while the euro gained 0.15% to $1.1036. The U.S. dollar index was off 0.16%.

Oil futures were lower. Crude oil lost 0.51% to $56.95 a barrel. Brent crude was off 0.27% to $62.34 a barrel. Gold and silver futures were lower.