The brewing political crisis in Washington rattled Wall Street Wednesday, knocking the Dow Jones industrial average down more than 370 points and giving the stock market its biggest single-day slump in eight months.
Investors worried the possible fallout from a report alleging President Donald Trump asked now-fired FBI Director James Comey to drop the bureau's investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn may stymie the White House's plans to cut taxes, roll back government regulations and other aspects of Trump's pro-business agenda.
The steep drop ended an unusually long period of calm for the markets, which had been hovering near all-time highs.
Financial stocks, which had soared in the months since the election, declined the most as bond yields fell sharply. Bonds, utilities and gold rose as traders shunned riskier assets. The dollar fell.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index had its biggest drop since September, sliding 43.64 points, or 1.8 percent, to 2,357.03. The Dow lost 372.82 points, or 1.8 percent, to 20,606.93. The Nasdaq composite index, coming off setting two consecutive record highs, gave up 158.63 points, or 2.6 percent, to 6,011.24.