Investing.com – U.S. stocks closed lower on Friday, despite the release of bullish economic data and an update from President Donald Trump on his tax reform plan.
All three major U.S. indexes ended the session in negative territory but attempted to pare losses, after Donald Trump said Friday, he will unveil a tax plan next week that includes a “massive tax cut” for individuals and businesses.
In an interview with The Associated Press, President Trump stopped short of providing a detailed outlined of the plan but insisted that the tax cuts will be “bigger I believe than any tax cut ever” and said the tax reform packaged will be released on “Wednesday [April 26] or shortly thereafter”.
Meanwhile, a bullish report from the National Association of Realtors showed sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. hit a ten-year high in March.
Existing home sales rose 4.4% in March from the previous month to an annualised pace of 5.71m units, which confounded economists’ estimates of a 2.5% gain. The National Association of Realtors said on Friday.
The uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the French Presidential election offset bullish economic data, after opinion polls indicated centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron holds a slender lead over far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.
In corporate news, Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) failed to secure a waiver that would allow it to drill in parts of Russia currently blocked by U.S. sanctions.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.15% lower at 20,547. The S&P 500 dipped 0.30% and the Nasdaq Composite traded 0.11% lower at 5910.52.
S&P 500 ‘movers and shakers’
The top S&P 500 gainers included; Rockwell Collins Inc (NYSE:COL) up 5.1%, and Stanley Black & Decker Inc (NYSE:SWK) up 3.7%, while Robert Half International Inc (NYSE:RHI) added 2.8%.
Mattel Inc (NASDAQ:MAT) down 13.6%, Interpublic Group of Companies Inc (NYSE:IPG) down 3.2% and PVH Corp (NYSE:PVH) down 3.1%, were among the worst S&P 500 performers of the session.