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26 April 2017
Stock markets around the
world made only modest moves on Wednesday, waiting to see what the White House
has in store for U.S. tax policy. The
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Stocks have sprinted
higher since November, due in large part to excitement that lower taxes and
looser regulations for businesses are on the way. The White House is expected
to unveil its first proposals this afternoon, and officials have called them
part of "the biggest tax cut" in U.S. history, though the
announcement is likely to include only broad outlines and few details.
KEEPING SCORE: The
Standard & Poor's 500 index rose nearly 2 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,390,
as of 9:55 a.m. eastern time. It follows two days of strong gains of more than
0.6 percent, and the index is close to its record closing level of 2,395.96,
set at the start of March.
The Dow Jones industrial
average rose 23 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,019, and the Nasdaq gained 2, or
less than 0.1 percent, to 6,027. The
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THE TAX PLAN COMETH:
Along with expectations for lighter regulations on business, hopes for lower
taxes have been among the main drivers for the 10 percent sprint higher for the
S&P 500 since Election Day. The
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The White House is
expected to announce this afternoon plans to cut the corporate tax rate to 15
percent from 35 percent. That may be only a starting point for negotiations,
but a tax rate even in the 25 percent range would mean fatter after-tax profits
for companies, which could propel their stock prices even further. The Total Investment & Insurance
Solutions
Such a tax cut could be
particularly helpful for smaller companies that do most of their business
domestically, which could set up small- and mid-cap stocks for even larger
gains than their big, multinational competitors. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions
EARNINGS: This is a
frenetic week for companies reporting how much they earned during the first
three months of the year. More than a third of the businesses in the S&P
500 are slated to go this week.
Reports have been
largely better than expected, and analysts expect this to be the strongest
quarter of growth in years. The Total
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Edwards Lifesciences
jumped to the biggest gain in the S&P 500 Wednesday after it reported stronger
revenue and profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its stock
rose $11.41, or 11.5 percent, to $110.33. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions
MARKETS ABROAD: In
Europe, the French CAC 40 rose 0.2 percent, the FTSE 100 in London added 0.1
percent and the German DAX was close to flat. In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225
jumped 1.1 percent, the South Korean Kospi rose 0.5 percent and Hong Kong's
Hang Seng added 0.5 percent.
COMMODITIES: Benchmark
U.S. crude oil lost 37 cents to $49.19 a barrel. Brent crude, which is used to
price international oils, fell 48 cents to $52.09 per barrel in London.
Gold fell $3.20 to
$1,264 per ounce, silver lost 15 cents to $17.45 and copper gained a penny to
$2.58 per pound. The Total Investment
& Insurance Solutions
CURRENCIES: The euro
slipped to $1.0887 from $1.0939 late Tuesday, while the dollar rose to 111.42
Japanese yen from 111.09 yen. The British pound slipped to $1.2821 from
$1.2830.
BONDS: U.S. government
bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped to 2.33
percent from 2.34 percent late Tuesday.The
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