US Markets Hit By FBI Probe Of Clinton

NEW YORK, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Oct, 2016 ) : US stocks dropped with a jolt Friday after news that the FBI reopened a probe into Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state.

US stocks had been comfortably in positive territory prior to news that Federal Bureau of Investigation head James Comey informed lawmakers that he was restarting the probe. Clinton has been the market's preferred choice compared with Republican Donald Trump, viewed by many investors as unpredictable.

Analysts said the news raises the chances of a Trump win, after weeks during which Clinton handily led the polls.

"One of the things we felt more certain about over the course of the last week or two has been the result at the top of the ballot, and this probably throws that into question," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities.

"That's not going to be good for markets." At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 18,161.39, down 0.1 percent. The broad-based S&P 500 lost 0.3 percent at 2,126.41, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.5 percent to 5,190.10.