Thursday's Market Close: Stocks Tumble On Economic, China Trade, Political Worries

Stocks tumbled Thursday on worries over the prospects for a comprehensive trade deal with China and concern over Democrats’ formalizing the impeachment process.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 140 points to 27,046 while the Nasdaq Composite fell 11 points to 8,292 and the S&P 500 slipped 9 points to 3,037.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange totaled 3 billion shares with 1,098 advancing, 154 setting new highs, and 1,876 declining, 67 setting new lows.

General Electric (GE), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Encana Corp. (ECA) led the most actives.

The House voted largely along party lines to approve a resolution setting up the next phase of the impeachment inquiry, which will include public hearings. Three House committees have been taking depositions in a secure room in the basement of the Capitol, gathering information on which to base the public inquiry.

Republicans decried the impeachment process as unfair and accused Democrats of persecuting the president. Democrats argued they are protecting the Constitution and democracy.

Chinese officials have cast doubt on the prospects of a comprehensive trade deal with the United States, indicating they won’t compromise on key issues, Bloomberg reported. The report said the Chinese also are concerned about President Trump’s impulsive nature and the possibility he will nix the preliminary deal he was planning to sign next month with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

The pair had been planning to meet at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Chile Nov. 16-17, but Chilean President Sebastian Pinera canceled the summit Wednesday because of mounting civil unrest that has led to riots, arson and mass arrests.

Chinese policymakers were meeting in Beijing Thursday amid economic reports showing its manufacturing sector dropped to its lowest level since February. The National Bureau of Statistics reported the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 49.3, below the 50 level that divides expansion from contraction. The non-manufacturing gauge was at 52.8.

Trump on Thursday ripped the Federal Reserve for its decision to lower a key interest rate by a quarter point, saying the money policymakers have “called it wrong from the beginning” as economic reports pointed to an economy slowing further.

Trump said interest rates should be in negative territory to keep the economy revved.

The Commerce Department reported consumer prices rose 0.05% in September and spending was up 0.2%.

Global markets were mixed.

In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng indes rose 0.9% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.37% while China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.35%. Australia’s S&P/ASX dipped 0.39%.

In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 was off 1.01% and the French CAC 40 gave up 0.3% while the German DAX was flat, off just 0.05%. The Stoxx Europe 600 was off 0.27%.

The British pound added 0.43% to $1.2953 while the euro gained 0.04% to $1.1155. The U.S. dollar index was off 0.33%.

Oil futures were lower. Crude oil gave up 1.78% to $54.08 while Brent crude was off 0.2% to $59.50. Gold futures climbed 1.13% to $1,513.70 an ounce and silver futures added 1.28% to $18.10 an ounce.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note added 30/32, sending the yield down to 1.683%. The 30-year noteadded 29/32, sending its yield down to 2.177%.