US open: Wall Street down after report ex-NSA Michael Flynn might testify against Trump
The spotlight on Wall Street shifted rapidly, from Friday afternoon's expected Senate vote on that chamber's proposed tax reforms to the political arena, after news broke that ex-US national security adviser Michael Flynn would testify against the president.
At 1615 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading down by 1.07% or 259.78 points at 23,991.37, while the S&P 500 was off by 1.24% or 32.55 points to 2,614.24 and the Nasdaq Composite by 1.54% or 109.81 to 6,758.73.
Presciently, IG's chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp said: "The day has not seen fresh highs in the US yet, but given the way the Dow moved yesterday it would only be a small matter to clock up yet another record. But there is a fly in the ointment; as former NSA director Michael Flynn pleads guilty, the way could be open to dramatic developments in the Russia collusion probe.
"This year, equities have defied everything else that was thrown at them. Can they withstand the potential implicating of the President of the United States in backroom deals with a foreign power?"
On Friday afternoon, ABC reported that Flynn would testify against his old boss, setting off an avalanche of selling in stocks.
That was reflected in the day's sector moves, with arguably the US president's favoured sector, coal, at the bottom of the pile with a drop of 5.75%, followed by Electronic Office Equipment (-4.28%) and Marine Transportation (-3.71%).
Relegated to a side show for now, reports indicated that US Senate Republicans had clinched sufficient support in order to secure approval of their tax cut plans through the upper house of Congress.
The day before, optimism over the Senate passing a bill to overhaul the US tax code helped to propel the Dow to a close above 24,000 for the first time, while the S&P 500 also ended at an all-time high.
Economic data at the end of the week was supportive as well, with the ISM's manufacturing sector purchasing managers´ index slipping from a reading of 58.7 in October to 58.2 for November (consensus: 58.3).
Nevertheless, the PMI continued to point to very solid levels of factory activity, analysts said.
US construction sector spending was even stronger, rising by 1.4% month-on-month in October (consensus: 0.5%).
Dow Jones - Risers
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $55.49 0.40%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $119.25 0.22%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $153.92 -0.03%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $135.45 -0.09%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $139.13 -0.14%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $83.15 -0.17%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $84.01 -0.19%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $89.78 -0.23%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $246.98 -0.27%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $37.19 -0.29%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Visa Inc. (V) $110.41 -1.94%
General Electric Co. (GE) $17.95 -1.83%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $44.14 -1.56%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $224.67 -1.53%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $119.76 -1.39%
Boeing Co. (BA) $273.35 -1.25%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $71.07 -1.24%
3M Co. (MMM) $240.32 -1.16%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $170.00 -1.08%
American Express Co. (AXP) $96.69 -1.04%
S&P 500 - Risers
Transocean Ltd. (RIG) $10.71 5.62%
Apache Corp. (APA) $43.66 4.37%
Murphy Oil Corp. (MUR) $29.04 3.90%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $37.91 3.78%
Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (DO) $16.54 3.12%
Halliburton Co. (HAL) $43.07 3.09%
Newfield Exploration Co (NFX) $31.79 2.78%
Spectra Energy Corp. (SE) $11.92 2.76%
Noble Energy Inc. (NBL) $27.00 2.66%
Tiffany & Co. (TIF) $97.00 2.65%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Qorvo, Inc. (QRVO) $73.27 -4.32%
Broadcom Limited (AVGO) $267.13 -3.89%
Patterson Companies Inc. (PDCO) $35.16 -3.80%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $185.45 -3.58%
Textron Inc. (TXT) $53.78 -3.46%
H&R Block Inc. (HRB) $25.29 -3.40%
Roper Technologies Inc (ROP) $258.19 -3.38%
Raytheon Co. (RTN) $184.71 -3.37%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $40.98 -3.33%
Vulcan Materials Co. (VMC) $121.51 -3.29%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $37.91 3.78%
Liberty Global Plc Lilac Class C (LILAK) $21.19 2.12%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $332.43 1.91%
Liberty Global Plc Lilac Class A (LILA) $21.16 1.73%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $367.95 1.68%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $38.15 1.61%
Liberty Interactive Corporation - Series A Liberty Ventures (LVNTA) $56.26 0.81%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $34.87 0.58%
Ctrip.Com International Ltd. Ads (CTRP) $46.25 0.37%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $101.05 0.22%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $203.06 -8.41%
Broadcom Limited (AVGO) $267.13 -3.89%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $251.25 -3.69%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $185.45 -3.58%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $40.98 -3.33%
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $101.49 -3.10%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $51.36 -2.67%
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JBHT) $108.27 -2.58%
Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $40.67 -2.50%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $224.36 -2.46%