US open: Stocks flat ahead of second US tax cut vote
Wall Street is trading roughly flat even as investors wait on a second vote in the US House of Representatives on the Republicans' tax cut plans, which is expected to hand President Trump the first major legislative victory of his administration.
At 1701 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was ahead by 0.05% or 12.26 points at 24,765.21, alongside a gain of 0.02% or 0.69 points to 2,682.18 in the S&P 500 and a dip of 0.02% or 1.69 points to 6,962.26 for the Nasdaq Composite.
From a sector standpoint, interest rate-sensitive sectors were among the weakest areas of the market, including: Tobacco (-2.46%), Mortgage REITs (-2.03%) and Multiutilities (-1.90%).
In parallel, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note was higher by two basis points at 2.48%.
Both the House and the Senate passed the reconciled tax reform bill the day before, but the House was due to hold a second vote later on Wednesday due to some minor changes to the earlier version required by Senate Democrats in order to iron out some procedural irregularities.
"These adjustments are, though, reported to be very minor in nature and, thus, are unlikely to represent much of an obstacle to the legislation making its way to President Trump before the week is out," Rabobank said.
Oanda analyst Craig Erlam chipped in, saying: "US equities are a mixed bag today are traders await the re-vote in the House of Representatives. The tax reforms are expected to be passed again, and dealers are hoping there will be no snag this time round.
"The changes to the tax system are tipped to be the deepest tax cuts to for the American middle class in 30 years. The corporate rate will be reduced to 21% from 35%, which is likely to halt American companies relocating overseas for tax purposes. We could also see US corporations repatriate funds, which could fuel stock buy-backs or perhaps mergers and acquisition (M&A) activity."
Meanwhile, in the corporate patch, FedEx was on the front foot after releasing better-than-expected second-quarter earnings late on Tuesday, while chip company Micron Technology was also higher after its own forecast-beating quarterly numbers.
Online clothing retailer Stitch Fix on the other hand was tumbling lower, despite its first quarterly earnings report as a publicly-traded company which beat analysts' expectations.
General Mills shares were also wanted after the food manufacturer posted stronger-than-expected fiscal second quarter sales numbers.
Dow Jones - Risers
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $186.85 1.15%
Boeing Co. (BA) $298.89 0.93%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $98.75 0.87%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $151.98 0.71%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $120.48 0.65%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $47.33 0.62%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $223.85 0.53%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $71.68 0.41%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $38.44 0.37%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $46.09 0.35%
Dow Jones - Fallers
General Electric Co. (GE) $17.42 -1.89%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $255.57 -1.71%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $171.92 -1.31%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $64.01 -1.23%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $36.69 -1.17%
Visa Inc. (V) $112.46 -0.96%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $85.07 -0.88%
American Express Co. (AXP) $98.99 -0.69%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $106.31 -0.61%
3M Co. (MMM) $237.02 -0.59%
S&P 500 - Risers
Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) $95.90 5.92%
Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc (ZBH) $121.10 5.82%
Noble Energy Inc. (NBL) $27.75 5.55%
Centene Corp. (CNC) $103.36 5.54%
Alcoa Corporation (AA) $49.09 5.52%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $60.85 4.94%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $16.18 4.88%
Newfield Exploration Co (NFX) $30.08 4.66%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $45.94 4.45%
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) $50.48 4.02%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Red Hat Inc. (RHT) $121.02 -6.50%
PPL Corp. (PPL) $31.97 -5.89%
Ventas Inc. (VTR) $60.80 -5.58%
Welltower Inc (HCN) $63.96 -5.02%
HCP Inc. (HCP) $25.88 -4.08%
NiSource Inc. (NI) $24.94 -4.00%
ProLogis (PLD) $63.31 -3.87%
SCANA Corp. (SCG) $41.36 -3.77%
Edison International (EIX) $68.46 -3.51%
Essex Prty Trust Inc. (ESS) $241.12 -3.50%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $45.94 4.45%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $334.33 2.24%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $118.01 1.98%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $113.80 1.95%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $189.29 1.71%
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $97.30 1.69%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $168.63 1.50%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $108.46 1.36%
Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $97.04 1.08%
CSX Corp. (CSX) $55.44 1.07%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $314.23 -4.57%
Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $153.65 -2.54%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $41.89 -2.51%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $82.31 -2.29%
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $101.32 -1.56%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $41.60 -1.38%
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $87.18 -1.35%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $185.83 -1.33%
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Class A (FOXA) $34.63 -1.24%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $93.87 -1.21%