· The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 85.45 points, or 0.36 percent, to 23,348.74, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 8.24 points, or 0.32 percent, to2,572.83 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 2.30 points, or 0.03 percent, to 6,698.96.
Wall Street pulled back from record-high territory on Monday, weighed down by a drop in Merck shares and a report that U.S. lawmakers are discussing a gradual phase-in of much-anticipated corporate tax cuts.
· Market watchers pointed to declines steepening after a Bloomberg report that the House of Representatives was discussing a gradual cut in corporate tax rates over several years.
“A lot of people are looking to that corporate tax cut as a reason for the next leg up in stocks,” said Rick Meckler, president of LibertyView Capital Management in Jersey City, New Jersey.
· Investors were also digesting the impact to Trump’s agenda from news that his former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, was charged with money laundering in the federal probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
· Stocks pared losses late in the day amid signs that Trump was close to picking Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell as head of the U.S. central bank.
· The New York Times reported Trump was “expected to” name Powell as soon as Thursday to replace Janet Yellen as Fed chair, after Reuters reported earlier that Trump was likely to pick him.
· Asian stocks were were mixed in early Monday trade after Wall Street closed lower on news that planned stateside tax cuts could be phased. Investors in the region also awaited the release of China's official Purchasing Managers' Index and the Bank of Japan's rates decision later in the session.
· Japan's Nikkei 225 declined 0.67 percent in early trade ahead of the Bank of Japan's interest rates decision. Shares across sectors edged down, with financial stocks recording losses of more than 1 percent: Mitsubishi UFJ was down 2.17 percent and Nomura Holdings tumbled 2.79 percent.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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