US STOCKS-Wall St ticks lower as Trump impeachment threat weighs

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* Nike surges to record high after Q1 results beat
* Philip Morris jumps on calling off Altria merger
* Aug. new home sales rise more than expected
* Indexes: Dow up 0.03%, S&P off 0.20%, Nasdaq down 0.42%

(Updates to open)
By Sruthi Shankar and Ambar Warrick
Sept 25 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes edged lower on
Wednesday as a move to launch an impeachment inquiry into
President Donald Trump more than offset gains in shares of Nike
and Philip Morris.
The news on probe, which pushed the S&P 500 .SPX to post
its biggest percentage drop in a month on Tuesday, worsened an
already fragile sentiment after Trump took a harsh tone about
China's trade practices, saying he would not accept a "bad
deal". "At the end, we closed off the day's lows, which tells me
that there isn't any panic in the market that would cause an
accelerated decline," said Peter Cardillo, chief market
economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
"Of course, the headline news regarding impeachment
investigation will be focused on, but I don't think that it's
going to have a real negative effect just yet."
Nike Inc NKE.N shares jumped 5.1% to a record high, and
were among the top boosts to the Dow Jones Industrial Average
.DJI and the S&P 500 .SPX after the company's first-quarter
results beat market expectations. Footwear retailer
Foot Locker Inc FL.N gained 2%.
Shares in Philip Morris PM.N surged 5.2% after the tobacco
company called off merger talks with Altria Group Inc MO.N and
said it would instead focus on the U.S. launch of its
tobacco-heating product, iQOS. At 9:59 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 8.87 points, or 0.03%, at 26,816.64, the S&P 500 .SPX was
down 6.01 points, or 0.20%, at 2,960.59. The Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was down 33.96 points, or 0.42%, at 7,959.67.
Boeing Co BA.N gained 0.9% after the aircraft maker's
board said it created a new permanent safety committee to
oversee development, manufacturing and operation of its aircraft
and services in the aftermath of two fatal 737 MAX crashes.
Marathon Petroleum Corp MPC.N rose 5.1% and was among the
top gainers on the S&P 500 after activist investor Elliott
Management on Wednesday renewed its demand to split Marathon
into three companies.
Chipmaker Broadcom Inc AVGO.O dropped 3.9% and was the
biggest loser on the S&P 500 after it priced an upsized offering
of convertible preferred stock. Oil and gas explorers Marathon Oil Corp MRO.N and
Halliburton Co HAL.N fell more than 1.5% each, tracking
declines in oil prices on worries of weakening global demand.
Data showed that sales of new U.S. single-family homes
rebounded more than expected in August, a sign that the
struggling housing market was starting to get a lift from lower
borrowing rates. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.12-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.31-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 3 new 52-week highs and no new lows,
while the Nasdaq recorded 5 new highs and 42 new lows.