Investing.com – U.S. stocks reversed gains to close lower on Thursday, after GOP House leaders delayed their planned vote on a bill to repeal and replace parts of Obamacare.
U.S. equities traded mostly positive throughout the session but came unstuck as investors viewed the GOP House leaders’ decision to delay the vote, as a major setback for President Donald Trump in his first major legislative test.
President Trump took to twitter earlier on Thursday in an attempt to encourage Republican constituents to call on their Republic leaders, to support the healthcare bill.
President Trump’s efforts to push through this bill is seen by financial markets as a crucial test of his ability to deliver on his legislative agenda, which includes tax reform.
Expectations for pro-growth policies such as tax-reform had been a key driver for the recent rally in U.S. stocks.
On the economic data front, The Commerce Department said on Thursday new home sales increased 6.1 % to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 592,000 units last month compared to expectations of a 0.7% increase to 565,000 units.
Elsewhere, initial jobless claims increased by 15,000 to 258,000 in the week ending March 18 from the previous week’s revised total of 243,000 against analysts’ expectations of a drop by 1,000 to 240,000.
In corporate news, Nike (NYSE:NKE) bounced back from its 7% slump in the previous session; shares of the sports retailer closed at $55.36 up 2.67%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.02% lower at 20,656. The S&P 500 shed 0.11% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.07% to 5,817.
The top S&P 500 gainers included PVH Corp (NYSE:PVH) up 8.2%, and TripAdvisor Inc (NASDAQ:TRIP) up 2.7%, while Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE:COG) added 2.7%.
Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) down 4.5%, Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) down 4% and FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) down 3.4%, were among the worst S&P 500 performers of the session.