Wall Street Close: Stocks Fall On Political Turmoil; Peloton IPO Sees Shares Slip, No More Waivers For US Huawei Suppliers

Political uncertainty rattled Wall Street Thursday as the Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire testified about his handling of a whistleblower complaint that was not promptly turned over to Congress and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff pledged to investigate fully whether President Trump attempted to solicit foreign help in his re-election bid.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 78 points or 0.29% at 26,892.75. The Nasdaq was off nearly 47 points or 0.58% to 8,030.66 and the S&P 500 dipped 7 points or 0.24% to 2,977.66.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange was 2 billion shares, with 1,327 issues advancing and 1,614 declining. One-hundred-26 issues set new highs and 32 set new lows.

Leading the most actives were NIO Inc. ADR (NIO), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and General Electric (GE).

Peloton (PTON) underwhelmed investors as it launched trading on the Nasdaq at $29 a share. At the end of the day, shares were more than 11% lower, trading at $25.76. Analysts said investors are tiring of initial public offerings by money-losing companies. The exercise equipment maker that streams on-demand workouts for a monthly subscription doesn’t expect to reach profitability before 2023.

American officials said it was unlikely the U.S. would extend waivers to companies to continue supplying China’s Huawei Technologies (HWT.UL). Huawei was blacklisted in May over national security concerns.

Maguire testified before the House Intelligence Committee about his handling of a whistleblower complaint that outlines a July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky just days after Trump put a hold on military aid to the country. In the call, Trump asks Zelensky to help investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a potential 2020 presidential rival. The complaint says Trump may have committed an abuse of power in making the request.

Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff of California pledged to thoroughly investigate the complaint following Maguire’s testimony and sharply criticized Trump for saying whoever supplied information to the whistleblower was “close to a spy” and should be dealt with accordingly. Schiff called the suggestion “a reprehensible invitation to violence against witnesses in our investigation.”

The political wrangling overshadowed China’s confirmation it made a “considerable” soybean buy ahead of next month’s high-level trade talks with the U.S. The Ministry of Commerce confirmed the transaction at its weekly press conference. The action is seen as an olive branch aimed at bringing the 15-month-old trade war to a close.

“It is hoped that the two sides will meet halfway and find a mutually beneficial and win-win approach based on equality and mutual respect,” ministry spokesman Gao Feng said.

Deputy-level negotiations were held last week in Washington. Feng described those discussions as “constructive.”

Feng’s remarks followed word from President Trump that he thinks an agreement would be reached “sooner” than expected despite his criticism Tuesday of China’s economic model, which he said relies in part on currency manipulation and product dumping.

Final second quarter U.S. gross domestic product estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis kept the growth figure at 2% for the second quarter, revising the initial estimate down 1 tick. Real GDP in the first quarter was 3.1%.

The Labor Department reported initial jobless claims rose last week to 213,000, up 3,000 from the previous week. The four-week average was 212,000, down 750 from the previous week’s revised average.

“The revision primarily reflected downward revisions to state and local government spending, exports, private inventory investment and residential investment, which were partially offset by rises to personal consumption expenditures.

Asian stocks closed mixed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.37% while Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.13%. China’s Shanghai Compsite fell 0.89% and Australia’s S&P/ASX lost 0.49%.

European markets closed higher. The London FTSE was up 0.84% while the German DAX added 0.44% and the French CAC rose 0.66%.

The British pound was off 0.023% against the dollar while the euro fell 0.18%. The U.S. dollar index gained 0.012%.

Crude oil futures were flat at to $56.48 a barrel, off 0.02%. Brent crude futures dropped to $61.69 a barrel, down 0.08%. Gold finished 0.3% higher at $1,512.80 while silfer fell 0.87% to $17.915.

Yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.704%, off 0.32%, while the 30-year bond slipped to 2.147% off 0.4%.