Investing.com – Stocks neared record highs on Tuesday as investors anticipate a corporate tax-cut in the U.S.
The S&P 500 inched forward five points or 0.19% as of 9:55 AM ET (2:55 PM GMT) while the Dow composite increased 45 points or 0.19%. Tech heavy NASDAQ Composite rose four points or 0.06%.
Republicans have started negotiating President Donald Trump’s tax-cut plan after a bill was introduced in the House last week. The proposed cuts, if enacted, would be the biggest overhaul of the U.S. tax system since the 1980s.
It would also be the first major legislative achievement since Republicans took control of the White House and Congress in January, but doubts remain over the scale of borrowing needed to finance the bill and the timetable for its passage this month.
Among the biggest gainers after the morning bell were Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM), which rose 0.14% after it announced it was partnering with Alphabet’s Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to offer a cloud service.Weight Watchers International Inc (NYSE:WTW) jumped 17.47% after it increased its profit forecast while Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)was up 1.66%.
Meanwhile Priceline.com Incorporated (NASDAQ:PCLN) dipped 9.95% after its fourth quarter guidance was less than expected and Teva Pharma Industries Ltd ADR (NYSE:TEVA) was down 4.11%.
Stocks in Europe were down. In Germany the DAX inched forward seven points or 0.05% while France’s CAC 40 was down one and half points or 0.04% and in London the FTSE 100 decreased 14 points or 0.19%. Spain’s IBEX 35 lost 28 points or 0.28%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 slipped down five points or 0.15%.
In commodities, gold futures fell 0.40% to $1,276.45 a troy ounce while crude oil futures lost 0.48% to $57.02 a barrel after rising to almost $62.00 a barrel earlier in the day. The U.S dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rose 0.35% to 94.95.