US close: Markets mixed as investors digest tax cut news
Wall Street finished mixed at the end of the first session of the week, as investors welcomed news that Senate Republicans passed their proposed tax reform bill, although political concerns were still on some traders' minds.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished ahead 0.24% at 24,290.05, while the S&P 500 lost 0.11% to 2,639.44 and the Nasdaq 100 was off 1.17% at 6,263.70.
At the weekend, the US Senate voted 51 to 49 to pass a bill that will implement a slew of changes to the US tax code which will include a big cut in corporation tax.
Analysts at Rabobank and Berenberg believed the lion's share of the boost to US GDP growth would arrive in 2018 and 2019, with the latter now predicting four interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve in 2018 on the back of the proposed legislative changes.
According to Berenberg's chief US economist, Mickey D.Levy, the proposed tax cuts would stoke an acceleration in the rate of business fixed investment to an annualised pace of roughly 6.6% over 2018-2019, from the average 3% clip it had sustained over the past five years.
On the political front, late on 1 December ABC News was forced to publish a correction to an earlier report in which it claimed that ex-US national security adviser Michael Flynn might testify that he had been instructed to contact Russian officials during the US election campaign in 2016.
Instead, he was reportedly asked to do so after the elections, during the so-called 'transition' period between administrations.
"The fact that only half of the rally was reversed on Friday is likely a reflection of the fact that, despite ABC having corrected its earlier inflammatory report, Flynn's admission of guilt raises the prospect of the investigation moving toward President Trump's inner circle," Rabobank said.
In corporate news, shares in General Cable surged 35.4% after it agreed to be bought by Italian cable maker Prysmian Group in a deal that valued the company at around $3bn including debt and other liabilities.
Elsewhere, drugstore chain CVS Health inked a deal to buy health insurer Aetna in a transaction worth around $69bn.
Shares in CVS closed down 4.54%, while Aetna stock finished the day off 1.4%.
Hartford Financial Services Group was in focus, losing 1.6% after agreeing to sell its run-of-life and annuity businesses Talcott Resolution to a group of investors in a deal valued at $2.05bn.
Dow Jones - Risers
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $110.22 4.72%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $184.90 2.48%
Boeing Co. (BA) $277.98 2.43%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $106.94 2.06%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $56.22 1.72%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $51.72 1.63%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $72.13 1.58%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $91.41 1.16%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $120.86 1.11%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $156.46 1.10%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Visa Inc. (V) $107.43 -4.58%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $81.08 -3.77%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $221.50 -2.96%
3M Co. (MMM) $239.31 -1.60%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $170.64 -1.28%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $120.04 -1.16%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $36.06 -0.80%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $169.80 -0.73%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $138.93 -0.69%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $60.10 -0.53%
S&P 500 - Risers
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) $24.40 8.83%
Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $9.20 7.60%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class A (DISCA) $20.85 7.14%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $250.39 6.82%
Macy's Inc. (M) $25.81 6.66%
Gap Inc. (GPS) $34.09 6.60%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class C (DISCK) $19.52 6.09%
Express Scripts Holding Co (ESRX) $68.16 5.82%
Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) $51.55 5.66%
Patterson Companies Inc. (PDCO) $37.30 5.34%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) $13.10 -7.02%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $369.95 -6.73%
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $168.44 -6.17%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $70.97 -5.75%
Equinix, Inc. (EQIX) $442.28 -5.73%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $186.66 -5.57%
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (TMO) $181.88 -5.57%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $58.60 -5.42%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $213.45 -5.23%
Red Hat Inc. (RHT) $120.33 -5.09%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Discovery Communications Inc. Class A (DISCA) $20.85 7.14%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $250.39 6.82%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class C (DISCK) $19.52 6.09%
Express Scripts Holding Co (ESRX) $68.16 5.82%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $54.88 5.17%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $40.32 4.92%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $221.64 4.26%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $106.37 3.26%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $78.01 3.01%
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Class A (FOXA) $33.09 2.80%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $225.80 -11.13%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $369.95 -6.73%
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $168.44 -6.17%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $70.97 -5.75%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $186.66 -5.57%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $58.60 -5.42%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $213.45 -5.23%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $39.90 -4.98%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $100.83 -4.90%
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $27.75 -4.67%