Major US stock indices fell markedly as investors analyzed the latest news regarding US-China trade relations and disappointing US consumer confidence data. The focus was also on the news that an increasing number of Democratic lawmakers called for initiating an impeachment process against President Donald Trump.

On Tuesday, Trump confirmed that he had ordered $ 400 million in military assistance for Ukraine to be frozen, but denied that he had done so as a leverage to force the president of Ukraine to launch an investigation that could harm Democratic rival Joe Biden.

In Washington, Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi met with other democratic lawmakers to consider the impeachment of the Republican President, who has endured repeated scandals since taking office in 2017.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that China has granted several companies new permits to purchase at least 2 million tons of soybeans in the United States without applying tariffs. According to the agency, the company has already bought about 1.2 million tons of soybeans.

US Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin has confirmed that trade negotiations between the two largest economies in the world will resume next month. In an interview with Fox Business Network, Mnuchin said U.S. and Chinese negotiators made some progress at deputy meetings last week. He also spoke positively about the resumption of Chinese purchases of American agricultural products by the PRC, but noted that "the most important issue is intellectual property."

Regarding the data, the Conference Board reported that the consumer confidence index fell sharply in September after it recorded a slight decline in August. According to the report, the index now stands at 125.1 (1985 = 100), compared with 134.2 in August (revised from 135.1). Analysts had expected the index to drop to 133.5. The report also showed that the current situation index, based on consumers' assessment of current business and labor market conditions, fell from 176.0 to 169.0, and the expectations index, based on short-term consumer forecasts regarding income, business and labor market conditions, fell from 106.4 to 95.8. Netflix (NFLX) also added pressure to the market, falling 4.62%, as several Wall Street analysts expressed concern about the company's future results.

Most DOW components recorded a decline (23 out of 30). Outsiders were the shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS; -2.84%). The biggest gainers were The Boeing Company (BA; + 1.28%).

Almost all S&P sectors completed trading in the red. The conglomerate sector showed the largest decrease (-2.1%). Only the utilities sector recorded growth (+ 0.7%).

At the time of closing:

Dow 26,807.77 -142.22 -0.53%

S&P 500 2,966.60 -25.18 -0.84%

Nasdaq 100 7,993.63 -118.83 -1.46%

U.S. stock-index futures rose moderately on Tuesday as hope for progress in U.S.-China trade talks increased.

Global Stocks:

(company / ticker / price / change ($/%) / volume)

Walt Disney (DIS) initiated with Outperform at Wells Fargo; target $173

Netflix (NFLX) target lowered to $350 from $515 at Pivotal Research Group

Apple (AAPL) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies

Snap (SNAP) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Guggenheim; target $22

Robert Both, the macro strategist at TD Securities, notes that Canada's household balance sheets for 2019Q2 showed slight progress in the deleveraging process.

• “Canadian households still owe $1.77 for every dollar of income and spend 14.9% of disposable income on debt payments, which represents a significant headwind to future consumption growth.
• The deleveraging process will take time and leave debt-service ratios elevated over the projection horizon. We estimate that every 1% rise in the debt-service-ratio coincides with a 0.1-0.2pp drag on consumption over the following year.
• Complicating matters is an already low savings rate. Further declines can provide a slight boost to consumption, but should households prioritize saving to guard against future rate hikes it would result in a more sluggish pace of spending.”