Following the announcement of the renewed call to impeach US President Donald Trump from his office, several key US stocks saw their prices drop as investor sentiment declined.
Among those that lost points during the aftermath include the NASDAQ Composite, the S&P 500, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made her formal impeachment inquiry on Tuesday, Wall Street saw a flurry of movements throughout the day.
The S&P 500 had its biggest one-day drop since August 23, with a decline of 0.8 percent to 2,966.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the day 0.5 percent, or 142.22 points, lower to 26,807.77. Meanwhile, the NASDAQ Composite had its worse day for the month with a drop of 1.5 percent to 7,993.63.
Prior to entering Tuesday's sessions, the three benchmark indexes were very close to their record highs. The S&P 500 and the Dow were just 1 percent shy of their respective all-time highs. Meanwhile, the NASDAQ Composite was just 2.7 percent away from its own record.
Among the biggest losers on Tuesday was Netflix, which lost more than 4 percent of its value as investors continue to question its latest earnings. Bank stocks also dropped during the day. Citigroup slipped more than 2.4 percent, while both JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America slid by 1 percent.
Pelosi mentioned on Tuesday that they were now ready to proceed with the impeachment inquiry given that they now had all the facts. Pelosi previously held a meeting with her caucus to discuss Trump's call with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and his alleged request to have Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's family investigated.
Trump had previously confirmed that he had talked with Zelenksy about Biden, but the president denied that he had pressured the Ukrainian to launch an investigation.
To further prove his innocence, Trump had stated that he was willing to release the full transcript of the call in question. In a series of tweets, Trump stated that he had already authorized the release of the "fully declassified and unredacted" transcript.
According to reports citing sources close to the matter, Biden had apparently already told Trump to comply with Congress' request for information. If Trump does not comply, Congress will have no choice but to immediately impeach Trump.
Similar to other geopolitical developments, the threat of impeachment has always had a direct impact on the market. In 1998, the S&P 500 fell by as much as 20 percent after the investigation into President Bill Clinton for perjury and obstruction of justice had reached its peak.
